With half of the world’s population now living in cities, the spotlight is put on increasing urbanisation as a key trend as well as a challenge that cities face in the 21st century. Such challenges are multi-faceted and cut across the economic, environment and social dimensions. In responding to these challenges, the developmental experience of major global cities often serves as useful reference for emerging cities as they track the path towards greater economic growth and competitiveness.

Though there is no “one-size fits all” solution, cities can welcome urbanisation in a sustainable manner through good governance, long-term and integrated urban planning, and by being adaptive (or even creative) in managing urban challenges. Beyond that, there is also a need to better appreciate the concept of liveability in an urban context.

With the above in mind, the Centre seeks to undertake multi-disciplinary and policy-relevant research in collaboration with local and overseas institutions, think tanks, regional and international organisations. It will also identify strategic partnerships with other centres of excellence and link-up with other cities to exchange best practices.

Projects currently undertaken by the CLC include the following:

1) Index to measure liveability and vibrancy of cities

The CLC has commissioned a study to investigate into and develop a Global Liveable Cities Index (GLCI) to measure the factors contributing to the liveability and vibrancy of cities. The study will adopt a quantitative research approach to identify and rank over 64 chosen cities globally according to a set of defined ideals approximated by a set of selective indicators. The different categories of indicators include Environmental Friendliness and Sustainability; Economic Vibrancy & Competitiveness, Security & Stability, Quality of Life & Diversity; Good Governance & Effective Leadership etc. The analysis would also include suggested improvements to particular areas of weaknesses with regard to individual city's performance to enhance its standing as a more liveable and vibrant global city. 

The preliminary results of the GLCI was presented at the World Cities Summit 2010.  The final report is targeted to be released at World Cities Summit 2012.

2) Urban Planning Study on Shanghai and Singapore

Singapore and Shanghai are two asian cities which underwent rapid urbanisation and economic growth over the past few decades. Despite inherent differences that set the two cities apart, both were faced with challenges in providing the necessary infrastructure to meet the growing demands of the industries, businesses and a rapidly growing population. The CLC and the East Asian Institute (EAI), in collaboration with an urban planner from the Shanghai Urban Planning and Design Research Institute, have studied into the urban planning processes of both cities in response to economic growth, population growth, as well as land use planning. A report on the study is being collated.