Singapore to host 2nd World Cities Summit next
year
Singapore will host the second World Cities Summit in June next
year.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan says the theme for the
World Cities Summit 2010 is "Liveable and Sustainable Cities for
the Future".
Opening an engineering conference in Singapore, Mr Mah said that in
recent years, nations have seen growing evidence of the adverse
effects of climate change, with several extreme weather events in
ASEAN and the rest of Asia.
Besides climate change, there is also the challenge of a rapidly
growing population.
The world population is expected to grow from the current 6.8
billion to over 9 billion by 2050.
And by 2050, cities will be home to more than 70 percent of the
world's population putting tremendous pressure on the global demand
for food, energy, water and other resources.
Given these challenges, Mr Mah stressed that sustainable
development had become a necessity requiring governments to play an
active role.
Mr Mah also said that the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize
would be presented at this summit.
--938Live