A solid network among major cities in Asia is spreading to the world
The 11th ANMC21 Plenary Meeting was held in Singapore.
On June 30th, 2012, the 11th Plenary Meeting of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21) was held at Marina Bay Sands, a resort complex in Singapore.
the Singapore Declaration was adopted.
We confirmed the importance of the network for the further development of the Asian cities.
To begin with, Tomsk in Russia and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia were given a warm welcome with applause to join the network as the first new member cities since its establishment, followed by speeches by their representatives. The representative from the Russian region said, "We can say Tomsk is Asia in Russia and the region is referred to as "hidden treasure" as a center of education. We hope to be a treasure of ANMC21 in the future as well. We also hope to learn from experiences of other member cities." The representative from the Mongolian city said, "Ulaanbaatar is facing various challenges as well. We hope to learn from experiences of other cities and share our experience and ideas with you all." The messages clearly expressed their enthusiasm and expectation for the participation to the network. With the new members, our activities will become enlivened even further.
Representatives of member cities participating in the meeting.
A policy dialogue was conducted under the theme of "Balancing Cities' Economic Growth with Social and Environmental Needs," where Singapore, Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Soul, Taipei and Tokyo made their presentations. Each city is facing different challenges including infrastructure development and energy issues, which makes it even more important for the member cities to make use of the network for sharing information and knowledge.
A special report was made under the title of "A City in a Garden" by Singapore, which explained its advanced green development policy. On June 29th, the day before the meeting, Singapore actually opened a new gigantic park called "Gardens by the Bay", demonstrating its strong focus on the green development of the city.
After the reports on the progress of joint projects, Hanoi was selected as the host city for the next plenary meeting. This year's meeting concluded with the adoption of the Singapore Declaration.
"Super trees," artificial trees installed in the Gardens by the Bay.
We look forward to making another visit a few years later to see them full of green.
The ANMC21 exhibition this year was held as part of the World Cities Summit Expo, where we introduced our joint projects while Jakarta, Hanoi, Soul, Taipei and Tokyo set up its own booth to promote each city. The exhibition included traditional performances by each city on the open-air stage. The interaction Asia will soon deliver a detailed report on the exhibition. Don't miss it!
The Plenary Meeting has been to almost all member cities. The ANMC21, entering the second stage with two new member cities, will continue to be a proactive network so that it can show you even more advanced developments at the meeting in Hanoi next year.
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