The research hailed Singapore’s dynamic retail and eating scenes, its plans for sustainable residing and excessive gross home product per capita, amongst different elements. FILE PHOTO/The Straits Occasions/Asia Information Community
SINGAPORE — Singapore has been named the highest metropolis within the Asia-Pacific area, based mostly on the place folks would most prefer to reside and go to, and the place they consider they’ll discover the very best job alternatives, based on a brand new research.
The inaugural 2025 Asia-Pacific Greatest Cities report ranked over 140 cities within the area in three classes – livability, lovability and prosperity.
Tokyo got here in second and Seoul, third. Different cities within the high 10 embrace Hong Kong (4th), Bangkok (sixth) and Sydney (seventh).
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China had 33 cities within the high 100, probably the most of any nation, with Beijing (fifth) and Shanghai (eighth) ending within the high 10.
Over 7,000 respondents from 9 Asia-Pacific nations had been surveyed for the research.
Examine
Data corresponding to price-to-income ratio and tree cowl, in addition to user-generated information like Tripadvisor scores and Google Traits statistics was additionally considered. Value-to-income ratio is the ratio of a metropolis’s median house worth to its median family disposable revenue.
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The research was unveiled on Feb 12 at a lecture organized by the Singapore-based Centre for Habitable Cities (CLC) titled What Makes Cities Habitable and Loveable. International enterprise consulting agency Resonance partnered market analysis agency Ipsos to supply the research.
CLC government director Hugh Lim informed The Straits Occasions the report will likely be a helpful useful resource for the centre to not solely replicate on Singapore’s growth, but additionally study from what different cities have accomplished. That is with the intention to proceed making Singapore a fantastic place to reside in.
Mr Lim added: “We’re honored that Singapore has been ranked on the high of this new report, alongside different Asian cities extensively acknowledged for his or her exemplary city achievements.”
Resonance additionally produces the annual World’s Greatest Cities rankings, wherein Singapore got here in fifth for the 2025 version.
Least corrupt nation
The Republic was additionally lately rated the least corrupt nation within the Asia-Pacific area in anti-graft watchdog Transparency Worldwide’s Corruption Notion Index.
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In January, Singapore was topped the world’s most revolutionary nation, after it topped the International Innovation Scorecard, which ranks nations based mostly on wide-ranging indicators corresponding to workforce schooling degree and new enterprise creation price.
The Resonance-Ipsos Asia-Pacific report hailed Singapore’s dynamic retail and eating scenes, its plans for sustainable residing and excessive gross home product per capita, amongst different elements.
Mr Chris Honest, president and chief government of Resonance, mentioned greater than 30 per cent of respondents named Singapore one of many high three Asia-Pacific cities that they wish to reside in, go to and the place they consider the very best job alternatives are discovered.
He added that Singapore was the town most steadily cited by respondents throughout all three classes, and by a really huge margin.
This exhibits Singapore has a really sturdy model amongst folks within the area, mentioned Mr Honest.
Singapore positioned first within the “prosperity” class, which used metrics such because the variety of Fortune International 500 firms headquartered within the metropolis and its unemployment price.
Livability
In each the “livability” and “lovability” classes, it was ranked second after Tokyo.
Mr Honest famous that Singapore was twenty eighth based on the research’s efficiency metrics for “livability”, however got here first within the perception-based information for a similar class, thereby pushing it as much as second on the livability entrance.
He mentioned the problem for Singapore now lies in accommodating the pressures which will come up from being probably the most fascinating Asia-Pacific metropolis to reside, go to and work in, and in sustaining its success.
The report additionally highlighted Singapore’s dedication to greenery, with 40 p.c of its land devoted to inexperienced areas.
It additional famous Singapore’s exploration of recent sustainable residing strategies, together with plans for extra inexperienced areas, sensible city districts and developments that promote work, schooling and leisure, such because the Park Connector Community.
Mr Honest informed ST that whereas each the worldwide and Asia-Pacific experiences used most of the identical metrics, some from the worldwide report weren’t employed within the Asia-Pacific research, as they weren’t obtainable for all cities within the area. As an illustration, how bike-friendly a metropolis’s streets are – a brand new metric used within the 2025 international research – was not included within the Asia-Pacific report.
International report
Within the 2025 international report, London clinched the highest place for the tenth consecutive yr, forward of New York (2nd), Paris (third) and Tokyo (4th).
When requested why Singapore beat Tokyo to high spot within the Asia-Pacific report regardless of being ranked a spot behind the Japanese metropolis within the international research, Mr Honest mentioned the worldwide research surveyed respondents from 30 nations the world over, whereas respondents for the Asia-Pacific research got here from 9 nations within the area.
“So this exhibits us how the notion of locations modifications relying on whether or not you’re it on a regional foundation or on a world foundation. I might suspect over time, if Singapore is so sturdy on a regional foundation, it would in all probability overtake Tokyo on a world foundation finally.”
At a panel dialogue throughout the lecture on Feb 12, restaurateur and entrepreneur Sebastian Ang spoke of the necessity for hybrid areas that supply distinctive cultural and social experiences.
He cited his Chinese language restaurant and bar Synthesis in Suntec Metropolis, which labored with conventional Chinese language medication consultants to create a wellness-themed menu, and provide pulse and tongue readings to clients.
“(Clients) beloved it… and we see a rise in millennials and Gen Zs paying extra consideration to wellness another way,” famous Mr Ang. “So I really feel that for cities to stay enticing and aggressive, we’ve to adapt to those altering city experiences.”
He was joined on the panel by Mr Honest; Ms Theresa Sheils, co-regional managing principal at international structure agency Gensler; Mr Anupam Yog, managing companion at expertise design group XDG Labs; and Dr Limin Hee, CLC’s analysis director. The session was moderated by Lekker Architects director Ong Ker-Shing.
On the Feb 12 occasion, CLC signed an settlement with WRLDCTY, an annual international discussion board for city innovation organized by Resonance, to alternate information and collaborate on creating extra habitable, lovable and sustainable cities.
As a part of the settlement, WRLDCTY will maintain its international convention in Singapore for the primary time as a part of CLC’s World Cities Summit in June 2026.
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