Don't neglect social inclusion as cities urbanise

Singapore

AS cities urbanise, they cannot neglect social inclusivity, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said at the World Cities Summit on Monday.

And cities need to be inclusive, not just in terms of financial compacts or social policies involving financial redistribution, but also through interaction, friendships and stronger social capital - that is, networks of relationships among those who live and work together.

Mr Tharman, who is also the Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, said that people were sometimes frightened by innovation and disliked globalisation because of the thr…