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WLI Singapore Powwow Dinner Series (April-May 2022)
In its fourth edition, the Powwow series was opened to both male and female ULI members.
Up Close and Personal featuring Nina Yang, SJ CityGlobal
17 May 2022
For the fourth instalment of the Up Close and Personal Series, we spoke to Nina Yang, CEO of SJ City Global. In a cosy discussion facilitated by ULI Singapore YLG member Kristie Wong, Nina inspired with her journey in real estate that took her across many geographical boundaries, and where her desire for using space to solve social problems has cumulated into the many different projects she has worked on.
Nina’s first project was the building located at the intersection of North Bridge Road and High Street
The session started with Nina sharing with us her roots and forage into the real estate industry sharing with us a picture of the first project she worked on (and where she took her wedding photos at!). She had a strong desire to be an Architect, even though others during her time would choose other more ‘enticing’ choices of studies. She saw architecture as a balance of arts and science, with the ability to use space to solve social problems. This was evident in the many different projects over the years, where she worked through the urban planning of greenfield sites in various countries.
Nina built her foundations in the public sector as an architect designing projects that were 0.5-hectare, learning the smaller details in design before transiting through the years into planning a 20-hectare site which taught her a holistic and top-down aspect of planning. She emphasized that no matter your background, learning through work and on the job was one of the important factors.
From schools to housing to cities, Nina continuously sought to drive urban solutions that would address social problems.
Having transitioned from the public to private sector herself, we learnt about the skillsets honed from working in both sectors, where the fundamentals are consistent, but solutions and focus are tailored to the needs accordingly. The skills she had learnt in the public sector had helped shaped her deeper understanding when working closely with the respective governmental bodies.
With the mix of the group being from different countries as well, we had a very engaging time discussing how urban planning and the balance of control between the planned and the unplanned plays out in different cities. Tapping into Nina’s broad experience working across many geographical locations, it was eye opening to see how planning in different regions transpired and was shaped by such diverse factors.
The last question and a great one to round off the session, was Nina sharing about how having a good boss and mentors along the way had helped her to get to where she is. On top of having the talent and hard work, it is always a win to have someone navigate with you through unchartered territories as the new boundaries are discovered.
Photo By ULI Singapore
2nd from Left: Nina Yang
We encourage students to join ULI and gain access to knowledge and peers as we work as a community to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. To find out more, email [email protected]
ULI Singapore thanks The Executive Centre for hosting this dialogue.
