Synopsis for Volume One It takes a certain amount of courage for intellectuals to think on model cities and best practices to be found in cities, knowing that they risk criticism of putting up cardboard cut-outs of `so-called' model cities rather than present the rather grim reality that cities around the world are more often than not grappling to come to terms with. The contributors to this two-volume book on model cities and urban best practices are courageous not only about their convictions of what make cities work for their citizenry but also in their recognition of the cities which have done well by their citizenry and bringing cities that one step nearer towards the realisation of city living as the utopian ideal. In this first volume of the book, government ministers join senior bureaucrats, diplomats, planners, architects, engineers, social scientists, scholars, experts on arts and culture, environmentalists as well as business entrepreneurs in a comprehensive and wide-ranging discussion of model cities and urban best practices. The papers on the effort to define model cities and urban best practices highlight perspectives not only from around the world but also agree that meeting basic urban needs such as, housing, can be as vital a city effort as traffic management or thinking on sustainable development and the partnerships among sectors towards achieving common city-wide goals. Entrepreneurial endeavours such as cross-border links among neighbouring cities and their regions highlight the business focus and economic vitality that cities will have to balance with the inclusiveness of its citizens no matter how young or old, issues of ageing, accessibility, public spaces and environmental quality. Themes comprising this volume of the book focus on issues familiar to many working with and on cities and their rapid growth. The effort to define model cities and identify urban best practices is complemented by discussions on transport and accessibility in cities. These papers are followed by the presentation of case-studies for space to accommodate business, information technology as well as environmental concerns in both the planning and management of cities. The authors as well as discussants have emphasised that their papers do not mandate models or urban best practices but are an effort to celebrate and acknowledge the success that has been achieved in making cities the ideal places for living that they can be, particularly in many of the newly industrialising and developing countries.

Ooi, Giok Ling, ed. 2000. Model Cities: Urban Best Practices (Volume 2). Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore and The Institute of Policy Studies.

(263 pages, ISBN 981-04-2446-9)