ULI Singapore coordinated with NUS and the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) to execute the workshop for these students.  Of the hundred students interested, 30 were selected by the National Junior College to participate.

Based on the written and verbal feedback, the students enjoyed every aspect of the programme.  They found UrbanPlan to be adequately challenging with a few suggested more guidance on the financial analysis activity.  They also valued their ability to engage with the facilitators from NUS, CLC and ULI, and the sharing by the panel of judges about their career path and interesting projects they had worked on.  These were:

• Darren Sabom, SC Capital (Portfolio Manager & Executive Director) – ULI Singapore Exco
• Chan Hui Min, DP Architects (Director)  – ULI Singapore Full Member
• Ong Seow Eng, NUS (Professor, Real Estate)
• Cheah Kok Ming, NUS (Assoc Professor, Architecture)

These were the key takeaways cited by students from the UrbanPlan programme:

1. appreciation of what urban planning in a built environment entails;
2. management of trade-offs given the multiple factors and site conditions; and,
3. creative thinking required in designing optimal outcome.

Overall, the students expressed that they would recommend the programme to other students.

With the success of this pilot programme, ULI Singapore is enthusiastic about running this programme again for Junior College and University students.

For more information on how you can be engaged with this programme in Singapore, please contact [email protected].