Labs · 2026 Edition · India Focus

The SingaporeUrban LearningProgramme

A 4-day immersion into how a city actually works—experienced in Singapore.

With a focus on how global models translate into Indian cities.

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15 – 18 June 2026Singapore4-Day Programme

Overview

Most cities offer pieces: a good transport network, a successful district, a strong plan.

In Singapore, the pieces connect.

You can see how land, housing, mobility, water, and public space come together—and how that connection is sustained over time.

This programme is an opportunity to spend time inside that.

This edition includes direct engagement with senior Indian practitioners—bringing a grounded perspective on how these systems translate across different urban contexts.

Over four days, you move through the city—its institutions, neighbourhoods, infrastructure, and public spaces—seeing how decisions are made, how they are implemented, and how they show up in everyday life—and reflect on what can be adapted, reworked, or challenged in the context of India.

What you'll explore

Five Ways to Read the City

The programme explores how Singapore works through five connected lenses—each examined in relation to the realities of rapidly urbanising contexts such as India.

Planning at Scale
How long-term vision, land use, and governance shape the city over decades.
Housing as National Infrastructure
How public housing operates as a social, economic, and spatial system.
Mobility and Everyday Movement
How transport, density, and walkability shape how the city is used.
Water, Climate, and the Landscape
How infrastructure, ecology, and resilience are designed together.
Districts and Urban Life
How heritage, commerce, and new development coexist and evolve.

The experience

Learning unfolds through movement.

You begin with the foundations—how Singapore plans and operates at scale. You move into the systems in action—housing, mobility, water, and green infrastructure. You spend time in districts where these decisions play out in everyday life.

There is a rhythm to it: observe → question → connect → reflect.

Throughout, participants engage with peers and senior practitioners working across Indian cities—grounding reflection in real policy and delivery contexts.

By the end, the city reads differently.

Programme structure

Day 1

Foundations

Planning, land use, housing, and ecological systems. The day grounds participants in how Singapore plans and operates at scale.

URA City Gallery

An introduction to how Singapore plans its growth—land use, density, and development coordinated across the entire city.

HDB Hub

Where Singapore's public housing system is managed—how policy, financing, and design come together to deliver housing at scale.

Bidadari Estate

A new residential district in development—showing how housing, green space, and community are being integrated today.

Bishan Park

A transformed river landscape—where flood control, ecology, and public space are designed as one system.

Day 2 – 3

Systems and Exchange

Participation in the World Cities Summit, alongside site visits and smaller group sessions exploring mobility, water, density, and green infrastructure. Including focused India discussions that explore how these systems translate into governance, financing, and delivery in Indian cities.

Marina Barrage

A defining piece of Singapore's water system—turning the sea into a reservoir while holding the city safe from floods, and opening it up as public space.

Gardens by the Bay

An iconic landscape of the city—where engineering, climate control, and planting come together to shape Singapore's "City in a Garden."

CapitaSpring

A new generation of city building—stacking work, greenery, and public space into a single high-rise in the heart of the CBD.

Singapore River Precincts

The historic core of the city—once a trading river, now a continuous stretch of waterfront life across Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, and Robertson Quay.

Day 4

Districts and Everyday Life

Heritage areas, new developments, and mobility systems—seeing how decisions translate into lived experience.

Little India

A historic neighbourhood - where culture, commerce, and everyday life continue to shape the street.

Chinatown

A preserved district—showing how heritage is retained and adapted within a changing city.

Lau Pa Sat

A central market hall—still functioning as a place to eat, gather, and move through in the CBD.

Punggol Digital District

A new urban district—bringing together work, education, and living in a planned environment.

World Cities Summit

The programme runs alongside WCS 2026.

It brings together senior leaders from government, industry, and urban practice across more than 100 cities—offering a wider lens on the questions explored during the programme.

This includes a strong India delegation—enabling direct exchange with senior bureaucrats, municipal leaders, and industry practitioners shaping Indian cities today.

Dedicated India Session

India's Next Cities — Policy, Capital, and Delivery

A focused exchange inside the World Cities Summit—bringing together Indian and global perspectives on how cities are shaped in practice.

The session extends the Learning Labs programme into the World Cities Summit—creating a structured moment of dialogue across public, private, and institutional stakeholders.

Curated by Leadership for Cities in partnership with the High-Level Committee on Urban Planning, Government of Gujarat, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), and ULI India, and developed in collaboration with the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), Singapore, this session brings together senior policymakers, practitioners, and investors to examine how urban development is shaped across policy, capital, and delivery.

Held at the World Cities Summit (WCS) official venue at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, this small-format session (limited to 80 participants) creates space for direct, cross-context exchange—followed by a luncheon reception for continued conversation.

16 June 202611am – 12.30pmSuntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition CentreLimited to 80 participants (WCS registration required)

India Delegation — 2026

A senior India delegation at the heart of the programme.

This edition is anchored in a senior India delegation participating in the World Cities Summit—bringing together leaders working across policy, planning, development, and urban practice.

Participants in the Learning Lab will engage directly with this delegation—through discussions, sessions, and informal exchange—offering a grounded view of how decisions are shaped, negotiated, and delivered across Indian cities.

Confirmed participants include

Delegation Leader
Keshav Varma, IAS (Retd.)
Chairman, High-Level Committee on Urban Planning, Government of Gujarat
Delegation Leader
Nipun Sahni
Chairman, ULI Delhi District Council; Founder, REZONE Investments
Chirayu J. Bhatt
Deputy Provost, CEPT University
Manisha Bhartia
Chair, ULI Women's Leadership Initiative, ULI India; Business Director (India) & Urbanism Director, BDP
Manasvini Hariharan
Executive Director, ULI India
Digvijay Singh Kathiwada
Chairperson, Kathiwada Foundation
Ajay Khanna
Senior Advisor, ULI India
Dr. Debolina Kundu
Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs
Chhavi Lal
ExCo Member, ULI India; Principal, Perkins Eastman
Jignesh Mehta
Adjunct Associate Professor; Programme Chair, Master of Urban Planning, CEPT University
Anshul Mishra, IAS
Additional Director, AIIMS; Ex-Member Secretary, CMDA
Banchhanidhi Pani, IAS
Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad
Naseera Razak
ExCo Member, ULI India; Principal & Managing Director, Gensler Bangalore
Manas Rath
Chair, Education Committee, ULI India; Founder, Better Place Foundation
Sanjeev Sanyal
Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
Dr. Sameer Sharma, IAS (Retd.)
Former Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh
Manvendra Singh Shekhawat
Founder, Dhun Life
Rohan Sikri
Chairman, ULI India; Managing Partner, Xander Group
Srikanth Viswanathan
Chief Executive Officer, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy
Anupam Yog
Vice Chair, APAC Placemaking Council, ULI; Managing Partner, XDG Labs
And others from across India's urban ecosystem.

Who this is for

For those responsible for how cities actually work

You are shaping decisions that affect how cities grow, connect, and function—often across systems that don't naturally align.

This programme is designed for a small, curated group working at that level.

Public sector leaders
Working across planning, infrastructure, and delivery—navigating policy, complexity, and scale.
Developers and investors
Shaping districts, projects, and long-term urban value.
Urban practitioners and advisors
Working across design, strategy, and implementation—often between institutions.

What you take away

Alignment.
How a city aligns planning, policy, and delivery—across agencies, not in silos.
Scale.
How large-scale transformation is structured, financed, and sustained over time.
Execution.
What execution looks like in practice—through real projects, systems, and institutions.
Agency.
Where you can act differently—within your own system, institution, or project.

Participation

This programme is designed for a small, curated cohort working at the intersection of policy, development, and city-making.

Places are limited to ensure depth of exchange, direct access to senior practitioners, and meaningful peer engagement.

Application

Participation is confirmed through an application process.

We review applications on a rolling basis, with early applications recommended as capacity is limited.

Shortlisted participants will be invited to confirm their place.

Fees

Programme fees are shared with shortlisted participants.

This includes:

– Full participation in the Learning Lab
– Access to the World Cities Summit
– The dedicated India’s Next Cities session at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre (limited to 80 participants)
– Accommodation, site visits, and local coordination

Institutional Partners

Anchored in collaboration.

The programme is anchored in collaboration with:

High-Level Committee on Urban Planning, Government of Gujarat
National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), Singapore

And delivered with contributions from:

Urban Land Institute (ULI India)
CEPT University
Better Place Foundation

And others contributing to the programme.

This collaboration brings together public leadership, institutional expertise, and on-the-ground practice across India and Singapore.

In collaboration with

Request Invitation

Places are limited. Invitations are now open for the 2026 India cohort.

Request Invitation