Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and Ramboll have launched an urban lab putting regenerative principles at the heart of city planning.
Ramboll has signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in knowledge exchange with Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC). The MoU was formally sealed by Hugh Lim, CLC managing director and Søren Brøndum, managing director for buildings at Ramboll, at the COP28 Singapore Pavilion, in Dubai, on 9 December 2023.
The MoU builds on the ongoing interactions between CLC and Ramboll and seeks to promote further knowledge exchange through co-organising programmes and leveraging each other’s expert networks from Singapore, Denmark and around the world.
Under the MoU, CLC and Ramboll will launch Urban Lab, an innovative knowledge generation process with a focus on regenerative urban development approaches. Previously, Ramboll has initiated Urban Labs in Copenhagen and New York, generating valuable insight in sustainable urban development in collaboration with cross-sector partners.
The main objective of the joint CLC-Ramboll Urban Lab is to investigate the concept of regenerative urban development, distilling core principles by drawing from Singapore as a case study. These principles will have broad relevance and applicability to other cities worldwide.
The initiative is set to commence in 2024 and CLC and Ramboll will be engaging urban planners, developers, and financiers from the public, private and academic sectors. It will focus on three themes – decarbonising the built environment, integrating nature-based solutions and enhancing cities’ climate resilience.
“The Urban Lab demonstrates our commitment to driving the industry forward by providing forward-looking good practice in sustainable urban development that benefits the environment and people who live and work in cities,” said says Ramboll Group CEO Jens-Peter Saul.
“The outcomes of the initiative will be applicable to cities around the world, providing a valuable resource for urban planning professionals seeking to adopt regenerative practices. We need to reach across sectors and borders to innovate the future city, and are excited to develop this initiative in collaboration with our partners, clients and peers,” Saul said.
CLC managing director Hugh Lim said: “CLC and Ramboll have fostered a longstanding partnership through numerous earlier collaborations. This partnership will bring the first Urban Lab to Singapore, with a focus on sustainable principles in urban planning and development.
“The study on regenerative urban planning will offer a transformative approach to city development and the built environment sector, with emphasis on sustainability, resilience and social equity. This learning lab will serve as a platform for exploring, innovating and implementing these principles, ensuring that our cities are not only sustainable but also foster the well-being of those who live in it. We are excited to be able to share the outcomes of the workshops at the World Cities Summit taking place in Singapore from 2-4 June 2024.”
Set up in 2008 by the Ministry of National Development and the then Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, the Centre for Liveable Cities aims to distil, create, and share knowledge on liveable and sustainable cities. The CLC’s work spans four main areas – research, capability development, knowledge platforms and advisory. Through these activities, it hopes to provide urban leaders and practitioners with the knowledge and support needed to make cities better.
Click here to find out more about Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities.
