Welcome Address by Minister Chee Hong Tat at the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Lecture

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Good afternoon everyone. To our international guests who have travelled from near and far to be here, a warm welcome to Singapore.

Happy to join all of you today for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Lecture. This is one of the centrepiece events of the World Cities Summit.

Why Cities Matter

We gather at a defining moment for the future of urban life. The modern city is no longer just a place where people live and work. It is a living, breathing ecosystem - intricate, dynamic but at the same time facing relentless pressures on multiple fronts. Today's urban leaders face a challenge of extraordinary complexity: how to house a rapidly growing population while simultaneously meeting a vast and competing array of needs, all within the constraints of limited land, finite resources and often insufficient time. A truly successful city must be liveable, vibrant and resilient. It must also be a place where people can live well, build strong communities and grow a competitive economy that can provide good jobs and thriving opportunities.

This conviction of turning challenges into opportunities through bold foresight, strong determination and long-term planning, lies at the very heart of the legacy of Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

About the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize was established in his honour, as a tribute to a leader who believed, with unwavering conviction, in the importance of good governance and visionary planning to transform cities and uplift lives. Awarded once every two years, the Prize recognises cities that have demonstrated bold leadership, innovative thinking, and the capacity to deliver real, meaningful improvements for their people.

And the Prize is not just about celebrating success; it is also about learning from it. It invites us to look carefully at what worked, why it worked, and to consider how those lessons might be adapted and applied by other cities that face similar challenges. The most enduring solutions are those that are shared, built upon, and carried forward by others.

The 2026 Laureate and Special Mention Cities

This brings me to the highlight of today's lecture: the presentations by the 2026 Laureate and Special Mention cities, whose stories I believe will both inspire and instruct.

Congratulations once again to London for being conferred the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate. I would also like to congratulate the Special Mention cities for this cycle - Antwerp, Budapest, Guangzhou, Taipei, and Tianjin.

London's recognition is a testament to its remarkable capacity to reinvent itself and deliver transformational change for a metropolis of over nine million residents. Through long-term strategic planning, and the ability to align social, environmental and economic objectives in pursuit of a shared vision, London has demonstrated that even the most established of global cities can continue to grow, adapt, and improve.

The list of London's achievements is long, and in the interest of time, I will just share a few examples, I am sure the London mayor and his team will share more. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has significantly improved air quality in central London while the Elizabeth Line has carried more than 800 million passengers and catalysed the development of more than 71,000 new homes. Targeted social programmes have also been effective in addressing deep-rooted inequality across the city. Taken together, these efforts speak to what is possible when strategic leadership and inclusive partnership are brought together to tackle the challenges of urban life.

The Special Mention cities each bring their own compelling story. Antwerp has transformed what were once infrastructure barriers into vibrant community assets through its ambitious Big Link project. Budapest has deepened connectivity through tactical urbanism and a unified transport network. Guangzhou has successfully navigated the difficult balance between rapid economic growth and liveability, anchored by community engagement and a commitment to ecological sustainability. Taipei has harnessed civic energy and public-private partnerships to tackle complex urban challenges with creativity and resolve. And Tianjin has proven that cultural preservation and forward-looking development can co-exist and complement each other, and how clever design and innovative engineering can enable a city to honour its past while boldly shaping its future.

I had the privilege of visiting all the above cities and experiencing their beauty and vibrancy first-hand, except for Budapest. I must find an opportunity to visit Budapest too and I look forward to the sharing by the six cities later.

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2028 Publication

Beyond today's presentations, I am happy to highlight the new Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize publication.

This publication offers in-depth insights on each of the 2026 winning cities as well as past Prize cities. It traces the decisions that were made, obstacles they had to overcome, and lessons that were learnt across topics from governance and transport to heritage preservation, with reflections from Mayors, city leaders, and urban experts who played a key role in these initiatives.

This is a useful and valuable resource that can be a practical guide for city leaders navigating complex urban transformation journeys.

A Reflection on What Makes Cities Great

Let us also take a moment to reflect on what the Prize, and the cities it recognises, reveal to us about what truly makes a city great.

I believe great cities share certain qualities. They are led by people who are willing to take a long-term view, laying the ground and sowing the seeds with both current and future generations in mind. They have people who are willing to experiment with new ideas, people who never stop learning from others and from their past successes and failures, and people who continuously seek to improve their city. And at the heart of it all, it is always about enhancing the living environment and the lives of the residents they serve.

Singapore's own urban journey has been shaped by these same guiding principles. We have learnt much from others and we remain committed to sharing what we have learnt in return. This spirit of mutual learning and collective progress is precisely what the World Cities Summit and the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize stand for.

Closing

Please allow me to close by expressing my gratitude to all of you for being here today. To our Prize Laureate and Special Mention cities, thank you for your leadership, your courage, and your commitment to the people you serve. To all our delegates and guests, I hope today's presentations will spark new ideas, forge new connections, and open new possibilities for further collaboration.

I wish everyone a very fruitful and enriching session. Thank you.