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Urban Science Week 2025
The Urban Science Week showcases thought leadership on cutting-edge research and innovative solutions, presenting an opportunity to glean insights from Singapore's experience as a living laboratory, where global expertise converges with local knowledge to shape liveable and sustainable futures.
Last updated 26 June 2025
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Synopsis
Cities today face increasingly complex challenges that require solutions backed by science and data. Urban science helps cities work better - from building stronger defences against climate change to creating smarter transportation systems that reduce congestion. The combination of experts from different fields and new technologies enables a deeper understanding of how different parts of a city affect each other – how built environment factors contribute to environmental and public health outcomes, or how thoughtful planning and design strengthens cities against extreme weather and enhances residents' quality of life.
Singapore has established itself as a global knowledge hub for urban science, where theoretical frameworks are effectively translated into practical solutions. Through strategic partnerships between academic institutions and government agencies, the city-state has created a robust ecosystem for urban innovation and experimentation. The upcoming Urban Science Week showcases thought-leadership on cutting-edge research and innovative solutions, presenting an opportunity to glean insights from Singapore's experience as a living laboratory, where international expertise converges with local knowledge to shape resilient, sustainable, and liveable urban futures. Join us from 1st to 5th Sep to explore groundbreaking urban solutions, connect with leading experts, and be part of shaping tomorrow's cities.
Key Events
*Timing of event to be confirmed
1ST SEP (MON) | 2ND SEP (TUE) | 3RD SEP (WED) | 4TH SEP (THU) | 5TH SEP (FRI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AM | NUS Cities Panel of Advisors Roundtable By Invite only | NUS Cities Symposium Public event @ Topic / Theme: How Urban Science helps Cities become more Liveable, Sustainable, and Resilient? | Urban Science Workshop – Part 1 Public event @ Topic / Theme: Future-Positive Cities: Through Science. By Design. In Place. Over Time. | Urban Science Workshop – Part 2 Public event @ CREATE Topic / Theme: Future-Positive Cities: Through Science. By Design. In Place. Over Time. | |
PM | IJSSC Editorial Board Meeting Closed-door Session CLC Lecture Series | SusMob Lecture Public event @ URA Function Hall |
1 | NUS Cities Panel of Advisors Roundtable (By Invite only)
NUS Cities
Date & Time: 1st Sep 2025
Location: NUS Nexus Room, University Hall
Synopsis
Singapore’s experience in urban development has become a model for the rest of the world. Our research institutions, which are some of the best globally, have built up deep disciplinary expertise in many areas. How can these be brought together to empower Singapore to become a global knowledge hub on cities and the science of cities? The NUS Cities Panel of Advisors' Roundtable will bring together local research institutions and government agencies into conversation with international experts on cities - including Prof. Luis Bettencourt (UChicago), Prof. Michael Batty (UCL), Prof. Ricky Burdett (LSE) and Prof. Alexander Zehnder (formerly from ETH Zurich) - to chart potential paths forward.
Professor Luís M. A. Bettencourt
Keynote Speaker and Panellist
(Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago &
Panel of Advisors, NUS Cities)
Professor Alexander Zehnder
Distinguished Keynote Speaker and Panellist
(President, Triple Z Consulting & Panel of Advisor, NUS Cities)
2 | CLC Lecture Series: Shaping Liveable Cities: Capturing the Cross-Domain Benefits of Sustainable Mobility
Date & Time: 2nd Sept (tentatively 4pm)
Location: URA Function Hall
Synopsis
As urban challenges become more complex, cities must rethink mobility, not just as a transport issue, but as an enabler to tackle inter-connected urban challenges such as climate change, social equity and public health. Drawing insights from the Science of Cities, this lecture explores how a cross-domain approach to mobility can unlock far-reaching benefits across sectors and enhance urban liveability. Through the lens of the Liveability Framework, it examines how cities can effectively identify, measure and maximise co-benefits from mobility initiatives to support decision-making, funding and public communication to shape more vibrant and inclusive future communities.
3 | NUS Cities Symposium
NUS Cities
Date & Time: 3rd Sep 2025
Location: NUS University Town, UTown Auditorium 2
Synopsis
The 3rd annual NUS Cities Symposium gathers a community of local and international urban science experts from various disciplines and sectors to discuss how urban science helps cities become more liveable, sustainable, and resilient. We are delighted to have Minister Ong Ye Kung (Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health, Singapore) as our Guest-of-Honour. The Symposium will feature a line-up of esteemed and renowned speakers such as Prof. Michael Batty, Prof. Luis Bettencourt and Prof. Marie Harder who will take us through the blooming field of urban science and explore how cities can leverage such knowledge to systematically tackle urban challenges. The role of Singapore as a global hub for high impact research and the role of universities as drivers and catalysts for the development of urban solutions will also be discussed. This flagship event is also held as part of the Singapore Urban Science Week and NUS Sustainability CONNECT.
Professor Luís M. A. Bettencourt
Keynote Speaker and Panellist
(Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago &
Panel of Advisors, NUS Cities)
Marie Harder
Keynote Speaker and Panellist
(Distinguished Professor, Fudan University)
4 | Urban Science Workshop – Future-Positive Cities: Through Science. By Design. In Place. Over Time.
FCL-SEC
Date & Time: 4th Sep (Part 1) & 5th Sep (Part 2)
Location: Part 1 @ Gallery Level 2 & Auditorium, National Design Centre; Part 2 @ Level 2 Theatrette and Seminar Room. FCL CREATE
Synopsis
As cities rapidly evolve under the pressures of climate change, population growth, and resource constraints, the need for a new urban paradigm has never been greater. Traditional models are no longer enough to address the interwoven social, ecological, and technological challenges of today’s urban environments. A new mode of future-positive urbanisation must urgently emerge, building on knowledge from different disciplines to envision net-zero urban futures and chart pathways for systemic change.
“Future-Positive Cities: Through Science. By Design. In Place. Over Time.”, organised by the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) Global, highlights the contributions of international research collaborations between ETH Zurich and Singapore universities (NUS, NTU, SUTD), supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF). Future-Positive Cities envision how innovations can transform urbanisation into a positive force for an increasingly complex world – where scientific insight and design innovation come together to shape liveable, resilient, and inclusive urban futures.
The symposium showcases innovative research that enhances our understanding of complex urban systems while delivering practical outcomes—tools, frameworks, and strategies that are actively reshaping our cities. Our work spans from materials innovation to megacity solutions, revealing how local knowledge and long-term research create meaningful urban transformation through both scientific insight and design excellence. Complementing the symposium, our exhibition at the National Design Centre Gallery presents a comprehensive view of FCL Global's research impact. Through our 13 research modules—organised in four distinct clusters—we demonstrate how our work influences design and policy across Singapore, Zurich, and our global research sites. Experience guided tours led by FCL Global researchers and engage with interactive demonstrations. Following the symposium, the exhibition moves to the CREATE Campus Lobby, reopening on 7 September.
Join us on 4 September at the National Design Centre Auditorium for thought-provoking keynotes and panel discussions, followed by in-depth research presentations on 5 September at the CREATE Campus, FCL Global's Singapore hub. We welcome you to embark with us on exploring and shaping a future that is not only possible, but also positive.
Summary of Bio
Professor Luís M. A. Bettencourt
Luis Bettencourt is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, Director of the Urban Science Lab and External Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. His research focuses on the theory and modelling of complex systems and the processes that underlie the structure and growth of cities. He connects interdisciplinary concepts and advanced mathematics with new technologies and data to create new systems’ theory, tools and methods. This work also involves collaborations with governments, NGOs, and interdisciplinary researchers worldwide to co-produce new insights and transformative practices for urban sustainable development.
Professor Alexander Zehnder
Alexander Zehnder is a partner at NanRise Pte Ltd, a consultancy that supports the planning of sustainable urban development, particularly in Asia. He is also part of the team that founded a non-profit organization in Singapore and Hong Kong, the Asia Carbon Institute (ACI), which issues carbon credits mainly for technological solutions, and is editor-in-chief of the International Journal for Smart and Sustainable Cities (IJSSC). He led the Sustainable Earth Office at NTU in Singapore, which introduced sustainability into all NTU's degree programs and reduced the campus' energy intensity by over 30 percent in 6 years through technological and behavioral adaptations.
He was President of the ETH Board, which oversees two universities, ETHZ and EPFL, and four national research institutes (PSI, EMPA, WSL and EAWAG). He was previously Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) and Professor Emeritus at ETH Zurich. Before that, he was a professor at Wageningen University and Stanford University. He initiated the construction of the world’s most energy-efficient office building (Forum Chriesbach) and is one of the "founding fathers" of the "2000-watt society" concept. Some of his work contributed to the creation of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which was launched in 1999.
Professor Marie Harder
Marie Harder is a Distinguished Professor at Fudan University in China since 2011, and University of Brighton in the UK. Her research interests are in the crystallization of shared values of local people for use in urban planning/ resilience/ international development/ ESG/ EIA/ Social Impact. Her team has developed the WeValue InSitu approach which provides a scaffolding process for local groups – civil or expert or community or residential – to crystallise what their existing but usually tacit shared values are. The results are statements that are usually sufficiently concise for use as sustainability indicators where needed. For cities, they have used it to profile the ‘living preferences’ of different groups of people, and thus build up a profile of ‘cultural shared values’. These can then be combined with information from focus groups to produce Conceptual Frameworks of the city on different topics – e.g. Vienna and Shanghai on climate change, and three settlements in the UK for Infrastructure Investments by the government.