SG60: Designing progress, the Singapore way
Design is Singapore’s foundation and can be used as national advantage for the future
THERE is much to celebrate with our nation’s 60th year of independence. Few countries have built so much, so deliberately, and in so little time post-independence.
The Singapore story is one defined by clear intent – grounded in understanding real needs, long-term planning, as well as bold execution.
This is design thinking at its highest. It echoes Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s words: “Singapore is a nation by design. Nothing we have today is natural or happened by itself. Somebody thought about it, made it happen… nothing was by chance.”
As a Unesco Creative City of Design, it is evident that great design can be found everywhere, from public housing to water systems, digital infrastructure and green urbanism.
We designed for density, sustainability and accessibility. In doing so, design has made people feel considered. Seniors can gather, learn and connect at activity centres, and residents move with ease across neighbourhoods through lush park connectors.
Over time, the same design sensibilities that shaped our city have filtered into how Singaporeans lead, create, and build. They are reflected in how Singapore’s most forward-thinking business leaders innovate, how entrepreneurs craft new experiences, and how leaders pursue progress with both precision and care.
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A national mindset, a strategic asset
In today’s climate of disruptive new technologies, rising customer expectations, and urgent environmental pressures, operational efficiency alone isn’t enough. What sets forward-looking businesses apart is clarity, agility, and above all, differentiation.
This is where design delivers.
As part of our ongoing Nation by Design campaign, DesignSingapore Council has invited 60 individuals across business, creative, and public sectors to share how design – and a sense of creative courage – has shaped their work and outlook.
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What emerged was a consistent theme: design is identified as a strategic advantage. It allows organisation leaders and decision-makers to sharpen their value proposition, and apply problem-solving by design to make an impact in a fast-changing world.
Design for purpose, not just performance
A great example is Singapore’s largest bank, DBS. Design and innovation are core to how the bank reimagines experience for customers, its people and systems. From simplifying everyday transactions to rethinking how customers manage their finances, DBS puts usability, trust, and transparency at the heart of its service.
The results speak for themselves: DBS was the first Asian bank to be recognised as World’s Best Bank several years running.
In our campaign, chief executive officer of DBS, Tan Su Shan, said: “At DBS, design is deeply woven into our ways of working and cultural fabric. Design enables us to act with purpose, offer amazing solutions and experiences that make a lasting difference, and create impact beyond banking.”
Hospitality firm The Lo & Behold Group, known for creating Singapore’s most striking spaces such as the award-winning Odette and Tanjong Beach Club, shares a similar conviction. For its managing partner, Wee Teng Wen, design is about depth, not display. “Design is not just how something looks. It’s how it works, how it makes people feel, and how it tells a story,” he shared.
“In hospitality and placemaking, design is the difference between a space people pass through and one they remember. It shapes mood, encourages connection, and reflects values. In a world of sameness, good design becomes a form of quiet resistance – an invitation to feel, linger, and belong.”
This philosophy is realised in the group’s latest and most ambitious project, New Bahru, which opened last year to much fanfare. The creative cluster housing more than 40 local brands demonstrates the power of design-led placemaking, one that builds community and relevance in the process.
It was also spotlighted in international publications such as the Australian Financial Review and Monocle, which hailed it as “a lesson in what decent, walkable, human-scale design that brings local brands together can do for footfall”.
Truly, design is not just decoration – it is direction. It is how smart companies stay sharp, in charge, and ahead in competition.
Keeping the Singaporean edge
As design becomes more central to how Singaporean companies create value and meaning, a broader shift is taking place. Design has made its way from the studio to the boardroom, from product development to organisational culture.
Yet it remains under-leveraged. The question now is not whether design matters, but how we embed it across disciplines, leadership, and communities. After all, design is what makes innovation human. It turns smart ideas into usable, trusted real-world outcomes that people adopt and remember.
Just as Singapore has rightly invested in engineering, biotechnology, logistics, and digital literacy, it’s time we invested in design capability – across industries and at scale. We need to start valuing design as a driver of national competitiveness as well as a strategic asset to how Singapore is perceived on the global stage.
Fellow Unesco Creative Cities of Design, Turin and in particular Seoul, show what is possible.
Turin transformed from a post-industrial automobile town into a cultural European hot spot, while Seoul cemented its reputation as a creative powerhouse with its iconic films and music, cutting-edge design projects and dynamic urban energy.
Singapore can similarly achieve this on both a cultural and economic level. Take DP Architects, a Singapore-born firm that now ranks among the world’s largest architectural practices, with 16 offices worldwide and projects from Dubai Mall to Guangzhou Science City.
Its CEO, Seah Chee Huang, attributes Singapore’s design edge to our “improbable beginnings (which) instilled a unique psyche: imagination and innovation driven by long-term vision and hyper-pragmatic mindset …a strength that positions us not just to participate but lead.”
This mindset that is imaginative, intentional, and quietly radical is a competitive advantage waiting to be scaled.
The real work lies in making this mindset widespread. Be it in cultivating design fluency in schools, where the next generation will shape the economy; in communities, where good design can drive positive impact; or in boardrooms, where the clarity and empathy design bring can anchor corporate purpose and unlock growth.
This is the future we are committed to shaping through our campaign Nation by Design and other initiatives such as Learning by Design and the Singapore Design Week happening in September.
We are also in the process of developing our next Design Masterplan that will chart the path for design and the critical role it will play in Singapore’s future and our place in the world. We invite the public to contribute to the Masterplan on our website and co-create this together.
Just as Singapore’s transformation was never left to chance, neither should our future. In a world of volatility and complexity, it is those who design with care, conviction and courage who will lead – and last. Design laid our foundation.
Our next chapter must be built not just by design, but by a nation of designers.
The writer is executive director, DesignSingapore Council
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