(Past Event) Roundtable in Partnership with UN-Habitat

Shedding Light on Pathways to Measure and Scale Quality of Life in Cities

July 15, 2024

A group picture of the participants of the roundtable — UN-Habitat/Matt Milliere

The Quality of Life Initiative held its second roundtable meeting 30-31 May 2024 in Singapore, just prior to the World Cities Summit held 2-4 June. Organized together with UN-Habitat, the hybrid event brought together diverse stakeholders from local governments, academia, the private sector, and international organizations to discuss improving and measuring quality of life in cities, experiences of those who have been piloting the new measurement tool, and the strategic partnerships and other avenues for scaling up such action to cities around the world.

Five people posing for a photo in front of the Quality of Life Initiative pull-up banner — UN-Habitat/Matt Milliere

The roundtable, themed ‘Improving Quality of Life in Cities in Times of Uncertainty: From Agenda to Action’, took place at the UNDP Global Centre in Singapore, with both in-person and online. This event aimed to refine a globally relevant and locally applicable quality of life measurement tool. The roundtable included presentations, guided discussions, and practical sessions to explore the evolving concept of quality of life and its application in urban development.

Participants sitting around a U-shaped table as the roundtable is in progress — UN-Habitat/Matt Milliere

The roundtable set out to:

Strengthen discussions on the centrality of quality of life in urban interventions and policymaking.
Address the challenges and opportunities in measuring QoL in cities, focusing on data collection and analysis.
Identify partnerships and resources necessary for scaling up the measurement tool.

Joe Hooper, Director of UNDP’s Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development, opened the first day focused on the evolving definition of quality of life in urban contexts and its significance in contemporary development challenges. Participants discussed the importance of citizen engagement and the need for sustainable information pathways between different levels of government.

Patricia McCarney, President and CEO of the World Council on City Data, introduced trends and dynamics in quality of life measurement. A guided discussion led by Kevin Johnson, Technical Team Lead of the Quality of Life Initiative, explored the practical challenges and innovative solutions for data collection and measurement, emphasizing the need for both objective and subjective data.

A guide explaining to a group of people at a visit to The Sky Residence — UN-Habitat/Matt Milliere

In collaboration with the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Singapore, participants took part in a field visit the second day to two innovative urban projects: The Sky Residence and the Singapore City Gallery, both of which showcased Singapore’s innovative vision of urban quality of life. Raf Tuts, Director of Global Solutions Division at UN-Habitat, opened the final session of the meeting on action, scaling up the implementation to more cities, and the importance of multi-level governance and cross-sector partnerships. The group also discussed the cost of inaction and economic costs and opportunities for supporting quality of life in cities.

This event recap is adapted from UN-Habitat The Quality of Life Initiative.