SIM Global Education organises information sessions around smart city design

SIM Global Education (SIM GE) has organised several information sessions involving industry partners for prospective students of its Master in Design for Smart Cities programme in Singapore, which is offered together with the Strate School of Design from France. 

In Conversation With Yann Follain: Urban Planning and Resilient Cities

2 October, 7pm – 8:30pm 

Follain is Founder of WY‐TO's Singapore practice and Co‐founder of WY‐TO architects, Paris 

In Conversation With Cyrille Schwob: Airbus: Hangar of the Future

24 October, 7pm – 8:30pm 

Schwob is Head, Research & Technology Development Asia Pacific, Airbus Group 

In Conversation With Pablo Viejo: The Future of Sustainable Smart Cities 

28 October, 11am – 12:30pm 

Viejo is CEO, PTGEM, and CTO, V&V Innovations 

In Conversation With Gregory Blokkeel: Smart Cities Mobility Solutions

8 November, 7pm – 8:30pm 

Blokkeel is Head of PSA Peugeot Citroen Innovation Cell @Singapore 

Developed and awarded by Strate School of Design, France, the Master in Design for Smart Cities is a two-year, full-time programme that combines design, humanities, technology and management. Taught through the model of Design Thinking and Design Doing, students are guided to become smart city designers who work with state‐of‐the‐art technologies to address human issues in an innovative way. 

The programme is project‐based and industry‐centric – students will gain hands‐on experience through industry‐sponsored projects and a mandatory three- to six-month internship. The projects will give students insights into social, economic, systemic and industrial issues.

According to SIM GE, the programme supports careers aligned with Singapore’s vision of a Smart Nation such as head of innovation, designer of experiences, services or intelligent objects and designer of immersive (virtual and augmented) reality.

Under the programme, industry partners - which include car manufacturer PSA Group, virtual reality, augmented reality and collaborative solutions specialist Immersion and 3D simulation provider Dassault Systèmes:

 Provide prospective briefs for industry‐sponsored projects

 Take part in a jury to assess the students’ oral defence for their degree project

 Provide internship positions, lecturers and keynote speakers

 Offer employment to programme graduates

Students will attend classes at SIM GE campus where there is a dedicated Strate computer laboratory furnished with 3D modelling/printing, and virtual and augmented reality equipment and software. Students will also have access to fabrication laboratories off campus which they can use for other techniques of prototyping.

The total programme fee is S$42,800 inclusive of tax. 

Interested?

The inaugural intake of 20 to 24 students is in January 2018. Applicants should have a Bachelor’s degree (2nd upper class honours) or equivalent in design, engineering or science. Local students should apply by 13 December 2017 while international students have a 12 November 2017 deadline. 

Watch the video about the Master in Design for Smart Cities programme

Malaysia PM announces next Bandar Malaysia milestones

Malaysia PM Najib Razak has a vision of capital city Kuala Lumpur as "one of the leading capitals of the world, driving forward Malaysia’s national transformation" with the Bandar Malaysia project.

The biggest development site in Malaysia is envisioned to be a new city centre for Kuala Lumpur, hosting residences as well as businesses. "Rather than just office and residential towers, we want Bandar Malaysia to be a catalyst for fast-track economic development and employment, including the new KL Internet City – the key hub of the world’s first Digital Free Trade Zone. We want to create an iconic development to drive tourism. And we want to create a transport nucleus for Malaysia, with Bandar Malaysia set to host the Kuala Lumpur to Singapore high speed rail, MRT lines, KTM Komuter, Airport Express Rail Link and 12 highways," he said in a statement.

PM Najib announced the appointment of Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Secretary General of Treasury, as the Chairman of both TRX City and Bandar Malaysia, and added that the Ministry of Finance will retain 100% ownership of Bandar Malaysia.

TRX City and Bandar Malaysia will begin a request for proposal (RFP) process, inviting expressions of interest for the role of master developer of Bandar Malaysia, PM Najib added. "The selection process for the master developer will involve very strict criteria, including a proven track record, speed of delivery, content creation, and the financial capability to deliver a project of this scale. The highest possible value will be sought to ensure that the best deal for the taxpayer is obtained," he said.

Bangkok is the most-visited destination in Asia Pacific

Source: Mastercard. Report cover.

While Bangkok, Thailand remains the most-visited destination in the Asia Pacific region, Singapore continues to lead the Thai capital in total visitor expenditure, according to the latest findings from the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017*.

Singapore has tracked a 18% leap in visitor spend over 2015 and 2016. One of only five destinations of the top 20 by total expenditure to reach a minimum spend of US$200 per day, Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, followed by Beijing, mainland China (US$242), Shanghai, China (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei, Taiwan (US$208).

Half of the top 20 most-visited destinations in Asia Pacific saw more than 10% growth in international overnight arrivals from 2015 to 2016. Destinations that benefitted most from this growth include Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian markets – Seoul, Korea (32.7%), Osaka, Japan (23.8%), Bali, Indonesia (22.5%), Tokyo, Japan (22.2%), Hokkaido, Japan (21.9%), Chiba, Japan (21.5%) and Pattaya, Thailand (20.6%).

This growth provides significant opportunities which governments, tourism bodies, and merchants can benefit from, including greater economic, cultural and infrastructural development.

Overall, overnight arrivals** to the 171 Asia Pacific destinations in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (9.8% CAGR from 2009 to 2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors. Singapore (13.1 million) came in second place, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (11.3 million). China stands as Asia Pacific’s most avid outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year or 16.2% of the total.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by international overnight arrivals:

1. Bangkok – 19.3 million

2. Singapore – 13.1 million

3. Tokyo – 12.6 million

4. Seoul – 12.4 million

5. Kuala Lumpur – 11.3 million

6. Phuket, Thailand – 9.1 million

7. Hong Kong – 8.9 million

8. Pattaya – 8.1 million

9. Osaka – 7.4 million

10. Taipei – 7.4 million

Visitors to Asia Pacific destinations are travelling to the region more, and doing so for longer periods. In 2016, visitors to the region stayed for a total of 1,768.7 million nights, an 8.1% CAGR from 1,023.1 million nights in 2009. Bangkok took the lead with 87.6 million nights, while Sydney came in second place with 87.5 million, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 76.7 million.

In particular, Sydney’s second-place position is especially outstanding compared to its number of overnight arrivals. Taking 20th place in the latter ranking, Sydney’s ratio of average number nights stayed versus number of overnight arrivals is shared by fellow Australian destinations Melbourne and Brisbane on the Index. As many tourists have to travel a distance to reach Australia, they are more likely to stay for longer periods to make their journey worthwhile.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by total nights stayed:

1. Bangkok – 87.6 million

2. Sydney – 87.5 million

3. Kuala Lumpur – 76.7 million

4. Tokyo – 74.3 million

5. Melbourne – 62.9 million

6. Bali, Indonesia – 62.4 million

7. Singapore – 60.7 million

8. Seoul – 56.0 million

9. Brisbane – 51.8 million

10. Taipei – 47.8 million

Spurred by Asia Pacific’s burgeoning middle class, overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, an 8.2% CAGR Moreover, Asia Pacific’s top 20 source markets contributed US$201.5 billion to the region’s tourism revenues in 2016.

The mass of tourists from Northeast Asia have helped to boost these earnings. Key findings from the Index revealed China (17.7%) and South Korea (8.8%) as the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia Pacific. In fact, these two markets were also top source markets for Singapore (China visitors were the No. 1 tourist segment), Bangkok (China  No. 1) and Tokyo (Korea No. 1, China No. 2), the region’s leading destinations by visitor expenditure. As renowned global shopping and dining locales, they are popular amongst affluent Chinese and South Korean tourists seeking new shopping or culinary experiences.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by expenditure:

1. Singapore – US$15.4 billion

2. Bangkok – US$12.7 billion

3. Tokyo – US$11.1 billion

4. Taipei – US$9.9 billion

5. Seoul – US$9.4 billion

6. Bali – US$8.7 billion

7. Phuket – US$8.3 billion

8. Kuala Lumpur – US$7.3 billion

9. Sydney – US$6.8 billion

10. Hong Kong– US$6.6 billion

Interested?

Download the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017 report

*The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index is an offshoot of Mastercard’s annual Global Destination Cities Index. In recent years, Asia Pacific cities have increasingly dominated the fastest growing and most visited destinations in the world. According to the 2016 Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index, five of the ten most visited cities in the world were in Asia Pacific.

The Asia Pacific Destinations Index takes a more in-depth, focused look at these tourism trends, ranking 171 destinations, including island resorts as well as towns and cities across the region, in terms of the total number of international overnight arrivals; cross-border spending; and the total number of nights spent at each destination. These 171 destinations are drawn from 22 countries across Asia Pacific and represent 90% of all international overnight arrivals within the region.

Public data is used in deriving the international overnight visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the destinations, using custom-made algorithms. This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on Mastercard volumes or transactional data.

*Overnight visitors stay at least one night in the destination country.

Dubai Chamber launches Dubai Smartpreneur Competition for 2017

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Smart Dubai Office has launched the second edition of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE VP and PM, and Ruler of Dubai to transform Dubai into a smart city.

Source: Dubai Chamber. A panel discussion was held during the event, 
focusing on the progress achieved by the UAE government on smart 
city and innovation-focused initiatives, as well as the initiatives and 
engines are expected to drive sustainable growth in the future. Panelists 
included Essa Al Zaabi, Senior VP, Institutional Support Sector, Dubai 
Chamber, and General Coordinator of Tejar Dubai; Younus Al Nasser, 
Assistant Director, Smart Dubai Office and CEO of Dubai Data; Kushal 
Shah, Partner, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Founder of 
Dubai Angel Investors; and Raed Hafez, Chairman, ElGrocer. 

The competition gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to become part of Dubai’s transformation into a global benchmark smart city, supporting the vision of Smart Dubai to make Dubai the happiest city on earth through technology innovation. It is open to all entrepreneurs based in the UAE.

In his welcome address, HE Hisham Al Shirawi highlighted that the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition has become a key platform for recognising and developing innovative ideas that have the potential to improve the local business environment and the wider society. “The benefits of this competition go far beyond financial rewards. Participants also get a unique chance to network with industry influencers, interact with mentors, and gain valuable feedback needed to improve and grow their businesses,” he said.

HE Dr Aisha bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office, said: “The Smartpreneur Competition is an important annual event that demonstrates the positive impact we can have when we work together. I applaud Dubai Chamber for leading this impressive event.

“These bright young entrepreneurs are essential to the success of our smart city ambitions. The second cycle of (the) Smartpreneur competition will not only be an opportunity to discover the best products and services improving city experiences. It will be an engagement platform to support local entrepreneurs to actively contribute to and lead our citywide transformation.” 

Last year, Dubai Chamber received 350 innovative ideas during the first cycle of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition. The competition this year will take place under the umbrella of Dubai Start Up Hub, the official online hub of the Dubai startup and technology ecosystem, managed by the Dubai Chamber in collaboration with IBM. Participants are required to submit their business ideas in line with Smart Dubai dimensions such as smart economy, smart living, smart mobility, smart governance, smart environment, and smart people.

The entries will be critiqued by a judging panel. Participants who qualify will attend two full-day workshops on sector-specific training, mentorship, building relationships, and developing a full business plan. The first three winners will get a cash prize and the opportunity to join the Tejar Dubai entrepreneurship development programme for a year to help them turn their business ideas into reality. The programme is designed to support nascent entrepreneurs by providing them with training, mentorship and access to new opportunities, helping them to take their first steps into the business world.

Dubai rises one spot in Dubai Innovation Index

• Dubai moves up one spot to rank 15th among 28 global innovation cities
• HE Buamim: Index enables us to identify areas for improvement and recommendations for boosting competitiveness

Source: Dubai Chamber. Buamim.

Dubai is in 15th position on the second edition of the Dubai Innovation Index, released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the sidelines of the UAE Innovation Week.

The survey, launched by the Chamber in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), analysed 28 top global innovation cities. This year, the emirate moved up one position and outperformed business hubs such as Madrid, Milan, Shanghai, and Moscow.

New York secured the top position in the Index, while London was fourth after placing first last year. GCC cities scored marks in the political, economic and social indicators category.

The Dubai Innovation Index, one of the leading pillars of the chamber’s innovation strategy, highlighted the Dubai government’s ongoing efforts in spearheading innovation initiatives in the emirate, the private sector’s significant contribution, and increased public-private sector collaboration.

The Index showed that Dubai’s private sector companies have started embracing innovation and taking innovation initiatives forward as companies become more proactive about implementing new ideas. Business have also recognised the importance of finding and retaining the best talent required to drive innovation, while they work to align skills to meet the requirements of the labour market.

HE Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, said the Innovation Index results show the Dubai government’s efforts in laying down a strong foundation to drive innovation citywide are taking effect, thanks to its proactive approach that involves the private sector and civil society.

Yet, there remain some areas where Dubai can improve, namely investment in research and development (R&D), developing employees’ skillsets, and raising IT awareness. In addition, there is still a need for businesses to adopt long-term innovation strategies that support the sustainable development of the emirate’s economy rather than their own institutional objectives.

HE Buamim said: “The Index has succeeded in identifying areas where we need to improve upon in order to boost our competitiveness. By embracing innovative strategies and practices, the private sector can contribute greatly to Dubai’s vision to become one of the world’s most innovative cities by 2021.”

Anil Khurana, Partner, PwC said: “The second edition of the Dubai Innovation Index comes at an interesting time for Dubai, the region, and the world. Though the region and the world are going through significant economic uncertainty, and several sectors are badly hit, the role of innovation in Dubai and the world has kept its pace.

“Aside from the government, several leading companies are now investing significantly not only in greater R&D activities, but also in emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), 3D printing, drones, and dozens of others that are often known by the moniker of Industry 4.0.”

Dubai Chamber’s innovation strategy aims to stimulate innovation in the private sector. Its three main pillars focus on supporting enablers of innovation, measuring innovation and honouring innovators as the growth and development of innovation requires the contribution of all segments of society. The Chamber plans to invest AED100 million on innovation-focused projects and initiatives over the next three years.

Interested?

Download the Dubai Innovation Index report

Dubai's nol card to become even smarter

Source: RTA. The nol card.

The unified nol card used for different forms of transport, launched in September 2009, has handled 3.4 billion transactions to date, said HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Transactions include commuter entries and exits from metro & tram stations, buses, taxis, and marine transit; fare payments and card top-ups. Daily use of the nol cards has grown exponentially more recently, recording 2.4 million transactions per day. A total number of 48 million nol cards and tickets have been issued.

“RTA has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Smart Dubai office endorsing the use of nol card as a means of a smart payment for micro payment processes in Dubai. It has also signed a MoU with the Dubai Municipality providing for the use of nol card in collecting the entry fee of four parks in Dubai, and the uses of nol cards are set to expand in future.

"In 2010, RTA, in collaboration with the Emirates NBD Bank, issued a combined credit card considered the first of its kind in the Middle East. The card has the dual features of a bank credit card as well as a nol card. Holders can use the card to perform payments as a credit card, smart contactless technology card, and a nol card for fares of various RTA’s public transit systems,” said Al Tayer.

The e-wallet feature of the nol card, which enables prepaid value for RTA services by electronic means, is also popular. There are 1,100 e-wallet accounts opened with RTA and amounts channelled through the e-purse have amounted to AED170 million, Al Tayer said.

“The e-wallet has a host of features such as the saving time, avoiding carrying cash amounts, secure online payment, easy checking of account details, and easy cancellation of payment. The e-wallet currently enables clients to pay licensing fees (relating to the licensing of vehicles and drivers), and efforts are underway to broaden the use of the e-wallet to cover payment for various RTA’s online individual and corporate services,” Al Tayer said.

The RTA announced in late September that it is gearing up for the launch of the final version of the Smart Fare project to the public in October 2016, having gone through the trial version September 2016. New services will be added to the Public Transport App, and the smart services on the app will be upgraded in line with RTA’s strategic goals on a Smart Dubai, and people's happiness.

The upgraded app uses near field connectivity (NFC) to support current services and to enable the launch of payment services through the app. Thanks to NFC technology, it will be possible to read and update nol cards directly through Android smartphones.

“The Smart Fare project uses NFC technology i.e. tapping nol cards on smartphones (Android devices) in which the Public Transport Smart App is uploaded. The customer would then be able to top-up (the) nol card instantly, and buy a bus & metro permit without visiting ticket counters or renewing such a permit,” said Khaled Al Awadi, Director of Automated Fare Collection, Technology Support Services Sector, RTA.

“Services will be paid for through entering details of customers' credit cards to the app in coordination with the Smart Dubai Government. The new services added to the app include credit transfers from one card to another, and enquiries about journeys made through the nol card.

“The service would contribute to eliminating any inconvenience related to the limited number of recharging machines.”

Singapore in top five for 2016 WE Cities Index

· The Dell Women Entrepreneur Cities Index (WE Cities) is the only global gender-specific index that looks at a city’s ability to attract and foster growth of women-owned firms

· Singapore is one of the top five cities for high-potential women entrepreneurs

· Data and analysis says that when impediments to female entrepreneurship are removed, there is a dramatic uplift in a city’s economic prospects

· Dell’s index provides a diagnostic tool to advise leaders and policy-makers on how to improve conditions to enable businesses founded by women to thrive

· Dell has partnered with 1776 to launch Union, an international startup platform

Source: Dell infographic. The Dell Women Entrepreneur Cities Index breakdown.

Dell has revealed the top 25 global cities fostering high potential women entrepreneurs (HPWE) for 2016. The Women Entrepreneur Cities Index (WE Cities) is the only global gender-specific index that looks at a city’s ability to attract and foster growth in firms founded by women entrepreneurs. Cities, instead of countries, were identified in order to show the impact of local policies and programmes in addition to national laws and customs.

Findings from WE Cities will be used as a springboard for conversation and change at the seventh annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Summit (DWEN) —a global gathering of 200 of the top female entrepreneurs, business leaders, media and Dell partners that is set to take place in South Africa, June 27 to 28, 2016.

“Innovation and job creation by women entrepreneurs is critical for a thriving global economy, yet our research shows some cities and countries are doing far more than others to encourage and support this important subset of the startup community,” said Karen Quintos, SVP and CMO at Dell. “Our index provides insights to move the conversation with policymakers and city leaders from awareness to action and, in turn, to empower women entrepreneurs to have the greatest economic impact on the world.”

Ranked 5th on the index, Singapore performs in the top third of the 25 cities ranked for talent, culture and technology. Sydney is also in the top 10.

“Singapore has established a robust ecosystem to support women entrepreneurs with a strong focus on cultivating home-grown entrepreneurship and promoting digitization across all verticals. As the only Asian city in the top 10 of the WE Cities Index and having emerged as the third most Future Ready Economy in a study conducted earlier this year, Singapore is well positioned on a global landscape for women-owned businesses to thrive and is an exceptional example to Asia of the great contribution women bring to the economic growth of a nation,” said Margaret Franco, VP, APJ CSES Marketing, Dell.

"Women entrepreneurs are our country's best bet for economic growth,” said Elizabeth Gore, Entrepreneur-in-residence for Dell. “It's time for women to be politically engaged to ensure the right ecosystems are in place for them to scale. If politicians and entrepreneurs partner, dynamic policies can be put in place to close the circle and enhance the process from idea to enterprise. WE Cities can be used as a diagnostic tool to help ensure lawmakers are listening to their needs.”

Top 25 WE Cities

Overall Ranking

1. NEW YORK

2. BAY AREA

3. LONDON

4. STOCKHOLM

5. SINGAPORE

6. TORONTO

7. WASHINGTON, DC

8. SYDNEY

9. PARIS

10. SEATTLE

11. MUNICH

12. AUSTIN

13. BEIJING

14. HONG KONG

15. TAIPEI

16. SHANGHAI

17. TOKYO

18. MEXICO CITY

19. SAO PAULO

20. SEOUL

21. MILAN

22. DELHI

23. JOHANNESBURG

24. JAKARTA

25. ISTANBUL

Dell partnered with IHS—a source of insight and analytics—to launch the global research that measures a city’s ability to attract and support high-potential women entrepreneurs. The 25 cities in the ranking were chosen from the list of 50 global cities in the Dell Future-Ready Economies (FRE) Model in order to make comparisons between the two indices, with geographic diversity utilised as key criteria in city selection.

Building on the past four years of Dell’s research on HPWE, five important categories of city characteristics were identified: capital, technology, talent, culture and markets. These pillars were organised into two groups – operating environment and enabling environment. The overall rating has 70 indicators, and, of these, 44 have a gender-based component. Individual indicators were weighted based on four criteria: relevance, quality of underlying data, uniqueness in the index and gender component.

Research for WE Cities began during the 2016 DWEN Future Ready Research Symposium chaired by Dr. David Ricketts from the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard. The research symposium brought together 40 global thought leaders, women entrepreneurs, academics and media to develop insights for the model. Takeaways from the conversations at the symposium included:

· Access to capital is still the No. 1 challenge that women entrepreneurs face, although the numbers are showing a slight improvement

· Creating robust ecosystems with incubators, accelerators and mentors makes a world of difference for entrepreneurs—it is all about the network

· Cultural norms and their policy implications put serious binds on female entrepreneurs

To help entrepreneurs in cities and economies that may not provide adequate resources for scaling businesses, Dell has partnered with 1776 to launch an international startup platform, Union, aimed at enabling the next billion entrepreneurs by supporting, connecting and removing barriers for entrepreneurs regardless of their location.

Accessible through the Startup Federation—a worldwide network of startup campuses and mega-hubs—or virtually for entrepreneurs in remote areas, Union will provide entrepreneurs anywhere in the world the ability to reach the people, resources and education they need to take their ideas from seed to scale. Designed by 1776’s team of engineers and aided by insights from incubators, accelerators, experts and hubs around the world, the platform enables entrepreneurs to:

· Find content and courses in business-building

· Tap elite mentors in their industries for advice

· Consult experts in skills like marketing, sales, engineering and human resources

· Connect with potential investors, customers and business partners

“Dell’s WE Cities research proves that millions of entrepreneurs are hampered by conditions in their local economies and policies,” said Donna Harris, co-founder and co-CEO of 1776. “Entrepreneurs should be free to live wherever they want and have access to the same incredible resources. Our Union platform brings that idea to reality.”

Interested?

Read the takeaways from the symposium (PDF)

View a detailed summary of the research findings and recommendations (PDF)

Hashtags: #WECities, #DWEN

posted from Bloggeroid

Singapore still popular as a regional hub, fourth-most expensive city globally

• Hong Kong is the most expensive city globally, with four other Asian cities in the global top 10 
• With a weaker RMB, all Chinese cities surveyed dropped in the rankings – Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10) 
• Singapore remains in fourth place, followed by Tokyo, which climbed from 11 to fifth 

Mercer Cost of Living Survey – Worldwide Rankings 2016 (The Mercer international basket, including rental accommodation costs)
Rank as of March		City	Country
2015	2016
2	1	HONG KONG	Hong Kong
1	2	LUANDA	Angola
3	3	ZURICH	Switzerland
4	4	SINGAPORE	Singapore
11	5	TOKYO	Japan
13	6	KINSHASA	Dem. Rep. of the Congo
6	7	SHANGHAI	China
5	8	GENEVA	Switzerland
10	9	NDJAMENA	Chad
7	10	BEIJING	China

Mercer’s 22nd annual Cost of Living Survey* finds that factors including currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability of accommodation prices, contribute to the cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments.

“Despite technology advances and the rise of a globally-connected workforce, deploying expatriate employees remains an increasingly important aspect of a competitive multinational company’s business strategy,” said Ilya Bonic, Senior Partner and President of Mercer’s Talent business. “However, with volatile markets and stunted economic growth in many parts of the world, a keen eye on cost efficiency is essential, including a focus on expatriate remuneration packages. As organisations’ appetite to rapidly grow and scale globally continues, it is necessary to have accurate and transparent data to compensate fairly for all types of assignments, including short-term and local plus status.”

According to Mercer’s 2016 Cost of Living Survey, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, pushing Luanda, Angola to second position. Zurich in Switzerland and Singapore remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Tokyo, Japan is fifth, up six places from last year. Other Asian cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10).

Mercer's survey is one of the world’s most comprehensive, and is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees. New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The survey includes over 375 cities throughout the world; this year’s ranking includes 209 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

“Maximising return on investment with fewer resources and talent shortages worldwide makes growth initiatives more difficult for multinationals,” said Bonic. “Organisations must ensure they can facilitate the moves they need to drive business results by offering fair and competitive compensation packages.”

Bonic added that costs of goods and services shift with inflation and currency volatility making overseas assignment costs sometimes greater and sometimes smaller. Low levels of inflation have translated into fairly steady cost increases around the world.

Asia Pacific

This year, Hong Kong (1) emerged as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally, as a consequence of Luanda’s drop in the ranking due to the weakening of its local currency. Singapore (4) remained steady, while Tokyo (5) climbed six places. Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10) follow. Shenzhen, China (12) is up two places, while Seoul, Korea (15) and Guangzhou, China (18) dropped seven and three spots, respectively.

Mario Ferraro, Global Mobility Leader for Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at Mercer, said, “Many Asian cities remain amongst the world’s most expensive places to deploy expatriates. However, this has not hindered companies from relocating talent here, as the region continues to offer growth potential and the demand for top talent remains high. With the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) becoming official on January 1 this year, the region represents a US$2.6 trillion market and this continues to attract companies to Southeast Asia. Companies tend to choose Singapore as the regional hub for this huge collective market, because of its talent pool and established infrastructure.”

“The strengthening of the Japanese yen pushed Japanese cities up in the ranking,” said Nathalie Constantin-Métral, Principal at Mercer with responsibility for compiling the survey ranking. “However, Chinese cities fell in the ranking due to the weakening of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar.”

Mumbai (82) is India’s most expensive city, followed by New Delhi (130) and Chennai (158). Kolkata (194) and Bangalore (180) are the least expensive Indian cities ranked. Elsewhere in Asia, Bangkok, Thailand (74), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (151) and Hanoi, Vietnam (106) plummeted twenty-nine, thirty-eight, and twenty places, respectively. Baku, Azerbaijan (172) had the most drastic fall in the ranking, plummeting more than one hundred places. The city of Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan climbed sixty-one spots to rank 66 globally.

Australian cities have witnessed some of the most dramatic falls in the ranking this year as the local currency has depreciated against the US dollar. Brisbane (96) and Canberra (98) dropped thirty and thirty-three spots, respectively, while Sydney (42), Australia’s most expensive ranked city for expatriates, experienced a relatively moderate drop of eleven places. Melbourne fell twenty-four spots to rank 71.

The Middle East

For the Middle East, Dubai, UAE was ranked 21st, while Abu Dhabi, UAE (25), and Beirut, Lebanon (50) were also in the top 50. Jeddah, KSA (121) remains the least expensive city in the region despite rising thirty places. “Several cities in the Middle East experienced a jump in the ranking, as they are being pushed up by other locations’ decline, as well as the strong increase for expatriate rental accommodation costs, particularly in Abu Dhabi and Jeddah,” said Constantin-Métral.

Interested?

Mercer produces individual cost of living and rental accommodation cost reports for each city surveyed. Get more information on city rankings. 

Buy individual city reports

*The figures for Mercer’s cost of living and rental accommodation costs comparisons are derived from a survey conducted in March 2016. Exchange rates from that time and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services from its Cost of Living survey have been used as base measurements.

Qlik app identifies Hong Kong as most expensive city in APAC

Screen capture from the app.

Qlik has created a web-based app for consumers to allow them to compare the cost of living across eight key cities in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Built on Qlik Sense, the Qlik APAC Cost of Living app focuses on living costs in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

The app uses embedded visual analytics to present a cross-section of goods such as property, transport, education, entertainment, utilities, food, restaurants and clothing, in addition to allowing users to view the data by 'budget', 'mid-range' or 'expensive' cost ranges across any category.

Source: Qlik infographic. While Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Shanghai score below the APAC average on almost every item in the comparison basket, the other cities scored above the regional average in various categories. 

Deeper insights

With heat maps, the app can instantly illustrate how the prices of individual items in various countries differ from the APAC average.

“With the constant fluctuations in Asian economies and changing consumer price indices (CPI), getting to grips with the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living before you move somewhere can be difficult,” said Phillip Beniac, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific for Qlik.

“The Qlik APAC Cost of Living app takes the pain out of the process by using visual analytics to compare the average cost of living in various cities. Easy to assimilate visual representations enable expatriates, as well as local residents, to compare selected APAC cities side by side, and drill into the data to find out how their city of choice stacks up against the rest.”

Beniac added that the app enables storytelling. "You can click deeper into the active data. It is not a static Powerpoint," he said. "This is about discovery, this is about insight."

Tokyo most expensive, Hong Kong, and Sydney close behind

Using heat maps, the Qlik APAC Cost of Living app instantly illustrates how the prices of individual items in various countries differ from the APAC average, with red highlighting the costliest and blue denoting the least expensive. A ‘Highs and Lows’ page enables users to track prices of particular items – from alcohol and entertainment to clothing and household essentials – across Asia Pacific.

Japan’s most populated city, Tokyo, takes the overall title as the most expensive city, with costs 39% higher than the APAC average. However, delving deeper into the data reveals that all is not how it may seem. For example, looking only at the ‘Expensive’ category of items shows that Hong Kong usurps Tokyo as the most expensive city to live the high life. At the other end of the spectrum, exploring ‘Budget’ costs shows Sydney elevated in the rankings to second behind only Tokyo.

“APAC is well regarded as an attractive location for expats and also sees a great deal of mobility from within the region, with potential to accelerate due to recent initiatives such as the Asian Economic Community formed in December 2015,” commented Professor Wong Poh Kam, National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.

“Part of this attractiveness of the region is the perceived low cost of living in various countries. However, cost of living standards can often be misunderstood unless people have access to a good level of detailed information that informs them what it will cost to live their particular lifestyle. For example, not everyone wants or needs to own a car, which can be a particularly expensive proposition in some APAC cities, especially Singapore and Tokyo, where the public transport network is already extensive.”

Some of the most interesting insights include:

Although Shanghai’s cost of living data places it 11% lower than the APAC average, it is the most expensive city to stay in shape, with a monthly gym membership costing US$157 and a session with a personal trainer costing US$393. In contrast, although Seoul has a similar overall cost of living to Shanghai coming in at 10% lower than average, a monthly gym membership will set you back just US$30, while a personal trainer session costs only US$72.

While Sydney is known for being a gourmet paradise, it is also the priciest place in APAC to eat out in hotel restaurants, with a meal for two costing up to US$247. That is about twice what it costs in Shanghai (US$133) or Tokyo (US$116), while Seoul is the cheapest choice (US$53), followed by Mumbai (US$61) and Hong Kong US$70).

In terms of finding a place to live, Kuala Lumpur is most attractive option for people who like to live in the city centre, with property costing US$331 per sq ft to buy and US$1.11 per sq ft to rent. Hong Kong tops the city centre list at US$2,002 per sq ft to buy and US$6.52 per sq ft to rent. On the other hand, if renting in the inner suburbs, then Mumbai (US$0.24 per sq ft), Kuala Lumpur (US$0.41 per sq ft) and Sydney (US$0.9 per sq ft) are the most attractive.

The app also casts light on some enormous cost disparities. For example, the cost of sending one student to an international school in Shanghai (US$45,229) is the equivalent of sending 22 to an international school in Mumbai (US$2,016).

“In the same way that organisations now routinely use business intelligence, individuals are seeking ways to use everyday data to analyse and derive insights into what’s going on in their lives. The Qlik Cost of Living app is a great example of how you don’t have to be a data scientist to get useful insights from data, by using visual analytics,” added Beniac.

CK Tan, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Asia Pacific, Qlik, said that the mobile-ready app would be of interest to people planning to relocate across countries, or those who want to travel.

The app will be updated at least annually and is likely to see more cities added as well as more categories. While the apps it has created are free, Qlik does not rule out monetisation in the future.

Interested?

The Qlik APAC Cost of Living app, built on Qlik Sense, is based on data collected from varied sources including desktop research as well as surveys of regional retail chains and hotels. Download the app

Explore other Qlik apps - one of the latest is on the UEFA Euro 2016 football championships

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GuocoLand to manage Sofitel Singapore City Centre and Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara

Source: AccorHotels. Tanjong Pagar
Centre.

GuocoLand will manage two of AccorHotels' newly-built hotels, at Tanjong Pagar Centre in Singapore and Damansara City, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia respectively. Together, the Sofitel Singapore City Centre and the Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara add 534 rooms to the AccorHotel’s luxury brand portfolio.

"Our upcoming world-class mixed use developments in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are set to bring modern, liveable spaces to the heart of the business districts in both cities. GuocoLand is pleased to appoint AccorHotels as the hotel manager for both properties as we see strong synergies with the Sofitel luxury brand and services that will cater to the differing needs and demands of our office tenants, residents, visitors and guests,” said Raymond Choong, President and CEO of GuocoLand Group. "The hotels’ business and dining facilities will be easily accessible to office tenants and residents within both developments, providing them with quality working and living experiences in a cosmopolitan setting.”

“We are very excited that GuocoLand has entrusted us to manage these two flagship hotels under our luxury Sofitel brand in what will be very prestigious lifestyle and business hubs,” said Michael Issenberg, Chairman and CEO AccorHotels Asia Pacific. “These two new hotels are set to become icons in their respective cities, being at the centrepiece of landmark developments that will reinvent urban living in two of Asia’s most dynamic destinations.”

The 222-room Sofitel Singapore City Centre will be part of the upcoming multi-billion dollar Tanjong Pagar Centre, which will redefine mixed use developments in Singapore when it becomes operational later this year. Located between Chinatown and the central business district (CBD), Tanjong Pagar Centre will feature Singapore’s tallest building at 290 m, a residential and office tower, retail and event spaces and a luxury Sofitel hotel, all set around parklands and with direct MRT station access.

Guests at Sofitel Singapore City Centre can enjoy the state-of-the-art Virgin Active gym, as well as public activities and events at Tanjong Pagar Centre’s Urban Park. The 150,000 sq ft Urban Park can accommodate up to 2,000 people, making it an ideal location to host public fitness events, such as Zumba and yoga, for the broader community.

The Sofitel Singapore City Centre will offer guests the luxury accommodations including an outdoor pool, an executive lounge with stunning city views, a 620 sq m ballroom and eight meeting rooms in addition to restaurants and bars. 

In neighbouring Malaysia, the 312-room Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara is also an integral part of a new 8.5 acre integrated development in the upmarket Damansara Heights enclave called Damansara City. Set to open this year, Damansara City will feature two Grade A office towers, two luxury high-rise residences, and an F&B-centric lifestyle mall in addition to the luxury hotel.

The Sofitel will be the first internationally branded luxury hotel in the area and is part of the prime Damansara Heights precinct, which is close to the KL Sentral transportation hub, as well as established townships like Bangsar and Petaling Jaya. The hotel will target corporate clients in the surrounding area, leisure travellers and the MICE market. A new MRT station next to the Damansara City development will provide connections to the rest of Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley.

The Sofitel will feature a lobby lounge, deli, three restaurants and bars, a Club Millesime executive lounge on the 22nd floor, a So Spa, So Fit gym and outdoor swimming pool complete with pool bar. Meeting facilities include an 840 sq m ballroom and five meeting rooms.

Interested?

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post on Damansara City

Wuhan, Changsha are top China sustainable cities for 2015

The 2015 China Sustainable Cities Report: Measuring Ecological and Human Development has found that all 35 cities on the Urban Ecological Input Index (EUII) have improved on their average performance since 2014. The report, evaluating Chinese cities' performance in sustainable development, was launched in Beijing during the 2015 International Forum on Sustainable Cities in China. 

Commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in association with Xinhua Oriental Outlook Weekly and drafted by an expert team at Tongji University, the report is the first of its kind in China since the recent adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) in September 2015. The report offers the opportunity to specifically address Sustainable Development Goal 11, which highlights the importance of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

"As the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pointed out, our struggle for global sustainability will be won or lost in our cities," said Alain Noudehou, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China during the Forum. "Urbanisation is transforming the social and economic patterns of the world. The report is a timely effort as Chinese cities are aligning their local five year plans with the national five year plan, and in line with the global Sustainable Development Goals and plans should take a human-centred approach that fosters human development within the ecological limits, "he added.

The research establishes models and methods for the evaluation of urban sustainable development based on The China Sustainable Cities Index, a quantitative and objective evaluation system to assist cities in assessing their sustainability performance, based on UNDP's Human Development Index (HDI), which has been applied to countries worldwide since 1990. Here it has been deployed at city level alongside the Urban Ecological Input Index (UEII).

Professor Zhu Dajian, Director of the Sustainable Development and New-Type Urbanization Think Tank and the first author of the report, says that "the report gives overall recommendations for development paths for cities depending on their current development stage, whether they need to improve human development, decrease ecological input, or both."

Yu Shaoliang, Vice President of Xinhua News Agency noted the complexity of sustainable urbanisation of Chinese cities stating, "to promote the new-type urbanisation in China, new criteria are needed for evaluation and pursuit of urban functions. Therefore, concepts such as 'sustainability' and 'livability' should be incorporated in urban planning and construction."

According to the report, The China Sustainable Cities Index does not emphasise the rank of cities relative to one another, where differences are often quite minor, but instead recognises an acceptable range for both human and environmental development as the ultimate goal for a sustainable city. This year's report introduces governance as a key parameter in addition to the existing pillars of sustainable development; economy, society and environment. In China, the term 'sustainable' is often applied to cities with rapid growth and high levels of human development but the report's findings demonstrate that is this not sufficient. Environmental impacts must also be taken into account as a deteriorated environment will eventually undermine human development, say the authors of the report.

Of the 35 cities evaluated in the report, Wuhan, Changsha and five other cities have achieved high human development while also minimising damage to the environment. Although many cities, particularly outside of the more developed eastern parts of the country, will require more support in their transition to sustainability, overall the trends are positive.

The forum also recognised the cities of Wuhan and Changsha as 2015 China Sustainable Cities and the solid waste management initiative in Guangzhou, vocational training in Foshan and ecotourism in Wulong, Chongqing as 2015 Good Practices of China Urban Sustainability.

Harbour City tops Hong Kong Google mobile searches for 2015

Source: Harbour City.

Harbour City, the largest shopping mall in Hong Kong, was named by Google's Year in Search as the leader in Top Trending Mobile Searches for Local Destinations of 2015. Located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong's core tourist district, the mall was also ranked sixth in Top Trending Search Keywords on Mobile. 

Spread over 2 million sq ft, Harbour City offers shopping, dining, entertainment and sightseeing services. Three of the restaurants in Harbour City - Lady M, House of Jasmine and Coffee Academics - were named 3rd, 6th and 8th respectively in the Top Trending Places for Food on Mobile Search. 

Google noted Harbour City's variety of promotions and events, such as Where's Wally? and Google Play Game Week, have helped the mall take the top spot. The mall is currently running a Christmas presentation in celebration of Hong Kong Disneyland's 10th anniversary.

City of Sydney launches Christmas programme

Source: City of Sydney. Lord Mayor Clover Moore launched the Sydney Christmas programme at Martin Place.

The City of Sydney’s Christmas programme has kicked off. The festivities include decorations, carols, light projections, concerts, Christmas trees and retail programmes.

“We welcome thousands of people from across Sydney to the city centre for our Christmas celebrations each year. With live concerts, colourful projections, great shopping and the opportunity for the kids to meet Santa, there’s plenty for visitors, shoppers and locals to enjoy,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“I invite everyone to embrace the magic of our Sydney Christmas. With sunshine, lively streets and long evenings, it’s the perfect time for exploring our city with family and friends.”

For the first time, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will host a graduation ceremony in Martin Place on 8 December to celebrate the achievements of some of its amazing work dogs. Each graduate dog has spent two years in intensive training to become a full-time guide dog. It costs over A$35,000 to breed, raise and train each graduate – a process entirely funded by the public.

Passers-by will have the opportunity to watch a live guide dog demonstration and have a cuddle with trainee guide puppies.

“Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is extremely grateful to the City of Sydney for selecting our organisation as its charity partner for this year’s Christmas festivities and the opportunity to raise much-needed funds for our important work,” Dr White said.

Sydney Christmas 2015 highlights:

Martin Place Christmas Tree – till 25 December
Visitors to the city centre can jump on the interactive dance pad at the Christmas Tree and text a message using the #sydxmastree for it to appear on the the tree, for everyone to see.

Standing 20 metres tall, Sydney’s Christmas tree is dressed with 60,000 lights, 120 interactive stars, 200 stainless steel baubles and a 1.5-metre star on top.

Christmas projections and illuminations

Light projections will transform the façades of some of Sydney’s most historic buildings in Martin Place and the Street Light Disco banners will bring sparkle to the area throughout the day and night.

Sydney Town Hall will be illuminated with festive colours from 10 December.

Boulevarde of Light

More than 100 living, potted Christmas trees and an overhead canopy of 62,000 lights will create a festive wonderland in Pitt Street Mall. The trees will be auctioned during the week of Christmas with all proceeds going to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

Village Christmas Concert
The free concerts at Rushcutters Bay (28 November), Rosebery (29 November), Alexandria (5 December) and Surry Hills (6 December) are family-friendly and include live music and fireworks.

Carollers and choirs
Choirs will perform in Pitt Street Mall on Thursday evenings in the lead up to Christmas and each night in December until Christmas Eve at the Martin Place Christmas Tree.

The Christmas at Sydney Town Hall concert on 15 December is a traditional affair of festive music accompanied by the magnificent Grand Organ in Centennial Hall.

Christmas shopping
The City is working with Transport for NSW on the George Street Christmas programme to bring visitors into the city over the festive season. As well as a nine-metre-high Christmas tree on George Street and pop-up stores from local retailers, there are free gift wrapping stations, Wi-Fi zones, live entertainment, fashion parades, face painting and digital photo booths.

Local village retailers are offering unique gifts and bespoke fashion. Shoppers can take part in the Best Shop Window Instagram competition by tagging their favourite local shop window #sydxmas #bestwindow on Instagram for a chance to win a A$2,000 shopping voucher.

Interested?

For the full programme, visit sydneychristmas.com.au

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts about the 2015 festive season, including:

Singapore Gift Guide 2015, the pleasure edition
Singapore Gift Guide 2015, the tech edition

Who in APAC will be spending the most online, according to the Adobe Digital Index
How Facebook sees mobile redefining the season

Hong Kong's Winter Wonderland experience

Sofitel So Singapore's French fusion Christmas menu
The launch of Casa Ferrero, Ferrero Rocher's popup store
House of Sillage launches the Holiday by House of Sillage fragrance

Hashtag: #bestwindow, #sydxmas, #sydxmastree

Singapore ranks third best city in APEC to live in and do business

Singapore has emerged as the third-best city in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in which to live and do business, according to a new study launched at the APEC 2015 CEO Summit.

The PwC study gives city leaders a view of where they are now, and it hopes to inspire cities within APEC to collaborate and seek advice to solve tenacious problems.

The study,  Building Better Cities*, focuses on the role urban centres play in the context of APEC’s economic and social growth, and also looks at the cities’ growing influence outside their borders through three lenses: how they fare in basic city development, what differentiates them and the hindrances they face to growth.

Yeoh Oon Jin, Executive Chairman, PwC Singapore said: “It is commendable that Singapore is the third most competitive, sustainable and livable APEC city. This achievement is reinforced by CEOs who have expressed confidence in their outlook for revenue growth in Singapore. Singapore is well positioned as a leader in technology-adoption and a recognised global financial hub. Singapore must continue to create value, strengthen partnerships and adopt best practices to advance along its growth journey.”

The study also looks at the rates of middle-class population growth, gross domestic product growth and the status of mobile broadband access to give fast growing cities an opportunity to accurately describe their progress and future growth potential.

It is becoming increasingly important for cities to build up their ‘brand’ to stay competitive, PwC noted, at a time when cities are competing to attract an increasingly mobile, global workforce. "Talent collects where the right live-work mix is found... establishing a unique identity is crucial. Even a top ranking city might lose out on expertise and investment capital if it is not known for a specific asset," the company said in a statement.

Guillermo Luz, COO of the APEC 2015 CEO Summit and Co-Chairman of National Competitiveness Council, Philippines emphasises the need for city-to-city collaboration as well. “This study provides a set of metrics and a diagnostic tool for Mayors and urban planners to see how they can improve their communities to build better cities. We hope Mayors use this information to see how they can evolve their cities into more liveable, sustainable, and competitive places,” he said.

The study grouped the 39 indicators according to five categories of urban excellence.

Connectivity

Part of any great city’s allure is its interconnectedness. As expected, the highest ranking cities in the Connectivity category – notably Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo – are making impressive strides across all Connectivity indicators. Moving people around a city seamlessly isn’t just about convenient commutes, nor is sharing knowledge only about city travel apps – connectivity has far-reaching implications in a city’s social and economic well-being. The top cities in this category have benefitted from decades of hard and soft infrastructure advancements and planning; they have been smart and digital well before the terms ‘smart cities’ or ‘e-gov’ were even coined.

Singapore emerged top in connectivity coming in first in broadband quality, tied for first in public transport systems with Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, Seoul, Toronto and Vancouver and first in traffic congestion.

Keith Martin, Cities Infrastructure Centre Leader, PwC Singapore comments: “Clearly, Singapore has benefited greatly from an excellent strength and depth of components that deliver effective connectivity, which benefits all city functions and end-users. This has been achieved by putting in place long term planning, funding and regulatory platforms to enable effective connectivity; throughout both the hardware and software components. We would like to expand the definition of connectivity to relate more to cross-border collaboration between cities, and knowledge sharing across the whole of APEC. The positive appetite and energy amongst city and urbanisation stakeholders to collaborate and share their ideas and systems for developing effective and affordable urban spaces is essential to meet the needs of our diverse and rapidly growing populations.”

Economics

Collectively, urban centres already generate some 70% of APEC’s total GDP. With increasingly rapid urbanisation, this is only set to increase. Unsurprisingly, financial powerhouses Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo fared best in this category, with Bandar Seri Begawan, Novosibirsk, and Port Moresby coming in last.

Singapore’s economic strength sees it come second in economics, behind Hong Kong. In the report, Singapore comes first in three variables – ease of doing business, attracting FDI and openness to trade.

Echoed in PwC’s APEC CEO survey*, 83% of respondents in Singapore (67% in APEC) indicated that they were confident about the prospect of revenue growth over the next year. When asked about the prospects for revenue growth in the next three to five years, 92% of respondents in Singapore (91% in APEC) indicated that they were confident.

The study proposes that managing cities like businesses could prove beneficial – especially when it comes to infrastructure – where longer-term sustainability and feasibility should be considered from the onset of projects. Typical problems faced by cities include whether infrastructure plans can survive multiple mayoral administrations and whether the projects possess the highest levels of engineering integrity in an era of more frequent and severe climate change-related weather events.

The study also found a strong correlation between how cities performed in the openness to trade indicator with how they performed in the Economics category and in the overall rankings. For example, both Shanghai and Beijing suffered in their overall ranking in Economics due to relatively poor scores in openness to trade.

Health & Welfare

APEC cities are struggling to keep pace with their population’s healthcare demands, and the problem is not new or exclusive. Topping the list for excellence in this category were Tokyo, Osaka and Toronto, while Cebu, Manila and Port Moresby are still working to resolve these issues.

Mature cities have had to struggle through legacy issues (of healthcare being moved from private to charitable to public to private), while newer cities are struggling to keep pace with medical innovation, expensive specialisation, and ageing populations. The sharing economy may offer solutions, though it may take a while for cities to step up the necessary technology.

Within the Health & Welfare category, crime is the most basic marker of well-being in a city. Interestingly, the study did not find an ironclad link between crime and the GINI Index, nor crime and literacy rates, although it is usually expected that income equality and education are large factors that aid in the creation of a less crime-ridden society.

Only when the data was analysed further did an association emerge: the biggest cities that showed the lowest incidents of crime also had the highest literacy rates for their population group (Tokyo and Seoul).

Culture & Social Health

A liveable city should fulfil people and enable them to contribute in return to the city’s growth and development. It should do this by providing proper access to education, economic opportunity, arts and cultural venues, vibrant nightlife scenes, safe and clean neighbourhoods while at the same time having a transparent government and inclusive and tolerant society. Toronto topped this category, followed by Melbourne and Auckland, with Surabaya, Bandar Seri Begawan and Port Moresby as the cities with the most scope for improvement. The study found a strong link between an educated population and open government and a more tolerant society. Encouragingly, it was also found that many cities in this study are making efforts to promote economic mobility through education.

Environmental Sustainability

Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle led the way in this category, while Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Lima showed most room for improvement. APEC economies are particularly vulnerable to the ill effects of badly-managed waste.

While the amount of waste produced is staggering and is set to increase, the good news is that cities, by nature of population densities, are often powerful laboratories for solving waste issues. A noteworthy example is Seoul which recycles 89% of its municipal waste through its series of laws, programmes, and regulations that span the full cycle of waste. Most significantly, the city charges for anything its citizens don’t recycle.

Disaster management is becoming an ever critical imperative for the sustainability of many of the cities studied. Monsoons, earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, and hurricanes all rake the region. Factors accelerating the Asian economy, including rapid urbanisation, may make the region even more vulnerable to disasters’ negative impact. As such, APEC CEOs cite potential disruptions from natural disasters as a key reason they would hold back on investments in the region.

Interested?

Read the report and the survey

*Building Better Cities draws on the methodology devised for PwC’s Cities of Opportunity study, and aims to shine a light on urban success in APEC cities by measuring their livability, sustainability, and competitiveness. The study is based on publicly available information supported by extensive research. Data was collected during the second and third quarters of 2015 using three main sources: global multilateral development organisations (such as the World Bank and the United Nations), national statistics organisations and municipal administrations, and commercial data providers. These rankings aim to facilitate observations on APEC cities in a clear and simple manner, and are not an expression of opinion or criticism.

Carried out by PwC International Survey Unit, the APEC CEO Survey 2015 was conducted between June 23 and August 21 2015 covering 800 CEOs and industry leaders across 52 nations with operations in all 21 APEC economies. 

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