Singapore is uniquely placed to develop solutions to the world's biggest design challenges, according to Dawn Lim and Mark Wee, organisers of Singapore Design Week, which is taking place this week.
"Singapore is a great place to think about the future," said Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council, Singapore's national design agency.
"If you look at all the major challenges that the world faces ? you talk about urban densities, ageing populations, rising sea levels ? you name it, we probably have it. And so that creates a very optimal location to test for solutions that might address some of these issues."
"We are both very enthusiastic about this idea of Singapore being a prototyping hub," added Wee, festival director of Singapore Design Week. Singapore is a "nation by design"
The island city-state of Singapore became a sovereign country in 1965 and developed rapidly into a global economic power through free trade with minimal tariffs or restrictions.
This open economy, as well as its size, location and geography, are all factors that make Singapore an excellent testbed for everything from autonomous vehicles to mitigating the effects of climate change, according to Lim and Wee.
Mark Wee is festival director of Singapore Design Week 2022
"We're a compact city-state, an island of about 750 square kilometres, and we've had to tackle everything that a country and a global metropolis needs on this island," said Wee....