Arup - City Competitiveness Redefined

City Profile

Singapore is an island-city-state in Southeast Asia with a population of 6 million and GDP per capita of US$82,000. The city is a highly developed market economy often regarded as a business-friendly and innovative environment. The city's key industries are financial services, international trade, manufacturing and real estate.

Despite limitations in natural resources and land area, Singapore has now grown to become one of the world’s most competitive cities, performing exceptionally in the assets and urban management categories.

The city possesses a highly skilled labour force, a strong environment for business and innovation, and is well-established global trade hub housing the second busiest container port globally.

While the city is Best in Class overall, there are opportunities to improve the liveability factor for residents. In recent years, the city has been labelled the most expensive in the world, tied with New York. Against its peers, the city is one of the lowest performers in terms of work intensity.

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Case study

Singapore is actively greening streets and working towards an ambition to become a “city in a garden.” That said, the city-state continues to struggle with urban heat. Arup’s Urban Heat Snapshot has identified a large cluster within the Singapore Central Business District (CBD) – including not only high-rise areas but also historical low-rise streets – as the most extreme “hot spots” in Singapore, experiencing temperatures 6°C higher than their rural surroundings. Using AI and satellite images, the research compared Singapore to the urban centres of six other cities - Cairo, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mumbai, and New York – on the hottest day they experienced last year.

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