Among the issues examined there were the effective governance, urban planning, infrastructural development, environmental sustainability, climate change, quality of life and economic competitiveness.
Speakers who attended include Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank; Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme; Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore; Peter Rowe, professor of architecture and urban design at Harvard University; and the mayors of cities such as Melbourne, Yokohama, Bogota and Wellington, among others.
Some of the notable figures include Mr Kamal Nath, India's Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mrs Carrie Lam, Secretary of Development in Hong Kong SAR, Mom Rajawongse Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Governor of Bangkok, Anna K. Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank and Mr James Adams, Vice President of the East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank.
As host nation of the biennial Summit, Singapore is well placed to share its expertise in specific areas such as public housing, waste management, green infrastructure, and urban planning.
Complementing the plenary discussions, there will be a series of high-level Expert Panel Sessions for government representatives, policy makers and specific industry experts to discuss the challenges and solutions faced by cities around the world in greater details, covering areas of urban planning, infrastructure financing, public housing, built environment, waste management, climate change and urban biodiversity.
These urban initiatives should incorporate principles of sustainable development and demonstrate an ability to bring social, economic and environmental benefits in holistic way to communities around the world.
Hence, Singapore's Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan, proposed the establishment of an index to measure biodiversity in cities at the 9th Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany in May 2008.
Suzhou won the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2014 for its transformation over the prior two decades, including transitioning to a service economy, cultural conservation during its modernisation, and its policies regarding migrant workers.