This document discusses what makes cities successful at attracting and retaining talent. It argues that cities have replaced large corporations as the central organizing unit for economic and social activity. The key factors that attract talent to cities are its "hardware" like public spaces, infrastructure and neighborhoods, and its "software" like culture, openness and a sense of hope for the future. Singapore performs well in terms of hardware but is still developing its software. The document suggests Singapore could improve in areas like celebrating failure, being more welcoming to foreigners and different types of people, and developing a stronger sense of hope and ambition for the future.

1. Future City
A flourishing global Singapore

2. Power of Place
“The ability to attract people and talent is the
single biggest predictor of a city’s economic
success.”
- NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Mercer Human
Resource
Consulting
Worldwide
Quality of Living
Survey 2007
Top 50

3. Places Attract Talent
• Place replaces large
corporations as the central
economic and social organizing
unit of our time.
• Place is the factor that
organically brings together
economic opportunity and talent,
the jobs and the people required
for creativity, innovation, and
growth.
Jobs are following the best talent,
not the other way around.

4. Talent Economists were off in forecast of US GDP
Matters! by US$10 trillion ‘Global Migration Patterns and Job Creation’
1,000 star innovators and
rainmakers
100,000 stars (including
supporting casts)
One star per $100 mil of GDP
growth.
100,000 stars would have created that
growth wherever they resided

5. What Makes a Place THE PLACE
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE

6. “ New York City has good people, and you would need to
Hardware build up the infrastructure to hold them. Not the reverse.”
Great Public Commons
Compact Grid
HARDWARE
Neighborhoods with Soul
3rd Places
Transport Options

7. Great Public Commons
waterfront
mega parks Renowned
museums
Renowned
Libraries
Performing
Renowned Arts Center
Universities
Stadiums/
Sports
Complex
• No longer nice-to-haves, Tier 1 global cities have variety of public spaces easily
accessible for people to plug into.
• Public Commons are morphing into modern cultural centers managed by a city’s
creative community.

8. Great Public waterfront
mega parks
Commons
London
Renowned
Museum
Performing
Arts Centre
Renowned
Universities
Renowned Stadiums
Library

9. Great Public waterfront
Commons
NYC mega parks
Performing
Arts Centre
Renowned
Museum
Renowned Renowned
Library Universities
Stadiums

10. waterfront
Great Public
Commons
Tokyo
Performing
Arts Centre
Renowned mega parks
Museum
Stadiums
Renowned
Renowned Universities
Library

11. Great Public waterfront
Commons
mega parks
upcoming Shanghai
Performing
Arts Centre
Renowned
Museum
Stadiums
Renowned
Universities
Renowned
Library

12. Compact Grid
London Tokyo NYC
• Optimizes walkability.
• Provides connectivity, flexibility, route choices, traffic dispersal, visibility and interaction.
• Protect it, avoid super blocks, reestablish it.
• Sprawl diffuses high density human interaction.

13. Neighborhoods with Soul
London Tokyo NYC
• Quality of place felt most strongly in a federation of neighborhoods.
• Each has distinct built environment, diverse kinds of people, you can just plug in.
• Offers the variety and intensity vibrant to a community.

14. ‘Third Places’
•1st and 2nd places are where we live and work.
•3rd places are gathering spots like cafes, gyms, bars, restaurants.
•Encourages ‘medici effect’ where people mix and interact.

15. Transport Options
London Tokyo NYC
• Many choices of public transport available around the clock.
• You can get around without needing a car.

16. What Makes a Place THE PLACE
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE

17. “SGP can put the infrastructure down, throw money at it, buy successful people in
Software creativity and innovation, top up the citizens education bank accounts, invest in
broadband infrastructure, get the best Uni lecturers … the problem is we still need
that extra X factor to bring us to the next level.”
Well-Being
SOFTWARE
Hope
Openness
Content and Culture

18. Well 7 critical conditions that lead to Brain Gain
Being which in turn feeds into GDP
Brain Gain is the holy grail
Brain Gain
GDP
Engaged
We are poor at Engaged Citizens Citizens
We don’t do well on Well Being
Well Being
Health
Economics
SGP does well from Law & Order to Health
Law & Order Work
Food & Shelter

19. Well Being & GDP per capita

20. Well Being Prosperity Restrainers
“Time for Leisure” and
“Community Life” are the
2 factors Singapore ranks
lowly on.
2007 Legatum Prosperity Scorecard

21. Future Orientation = Hope? (or Momentum
Hope Towards the Future)

22. But, does our SGP future inspire hope?
From 0 to 10, where do you stand on the ladder of life?
(a) now and (b) 5 years from now?
Self-perceived future for Singaporeans is not very strong
8.21
7.20 7.82 7.81
7.35
7.09 6.94 6.95
6.76 6.73
6.45 6.46 6.64 6.16
6.29
5.45 5.42
5.00
New York Toronto Sydney London SGP 2006 SGP 2007 Paris Shanghai Hong Kong
Average rating Now Average rating 5 years from Now
Gallup’s ‘Soul of a City’ World Poll

23. Openness and the Talent Advantage
Jerry Yang, Yahoo, George Soros, Helena Rubenstein, Andrew Carnegie, Sergey Brin, Google,
Taiwan Quantum Fund, Cosmetics Poland Scotland Moscow
Hungary
“…you can make of yourself
“It would be tough for Singapore to have the whatever you'll like to be. And if I
Googles and other innovative companies even compare it to other countries as
if the person/s are more creative because the well, definitely, I do feel that in
environment does not support it.” the US, you can achieve a much
Richard Carney higher level.”
San Francisco-based Dr Divyang Patel.
• Are we a society that welcomes foreigners to come here and create?
• Openness to failure?
• Is SGP open to both foreigners and failure?

24. Content and Culture
London Tokyo NYC
“S’pore’s economic success is hinged on its manufacturing and financial industries. It is still in
the infancy of recognizing talent in the creative industries” - Dr Gillian Koh, IPS
“Practitioners believe that providing the “hardware” without concomitant attention to the “software”
(creative development) is regressive” - Lily Kong, NUS Professor

25. When Talent Moves &
Broaden Catchment Who Are They?

26. Fresh Grads/SuperTalents (1st Touchpoint)
• Recent graduates
• Hungry, ambitious, impatient for
success
• Mobile lot, looking to fill up CVs with
international experience
• Super talent in their fields (e.g.
music, consultancy, finance, sports)
“So young people have to be committed, have the talent and they'll have opportunities.
Perfect grades are not everything…. Thirty-five years ago, would you have picked me to
interview? Would people have said I'd achieve anything? Probably not. Singapore has to take
a few chances on young people who may not fit the cookie-cutter mould.”
Straits Times (May 10, 2008) article “Nobel laureate got D in chemistry class” interview with Peter Agre, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

27. Mid-Career Highflyer (2nd Touchpoint)
• Risen extremely quickly, usually
working for MNCs
• Have moved cities once or twice
before
• MBA, CFA, CPA, or in the process of
attaining one
• Have a well established network of
who’s who of their industry around the
world
• Top 5% of earners amongst their peers
• Starting family or about to
What draws you here?
One of the guys in my company, he is 30 or 31. He was given the opportunity to come to Singapore to head up
this unit and that is why he succeeded. They are given a break here. It would not have happened in Europe.
It is all upside in this region. The region will always attract them. Everything is so exciting.
- Sarita Singh, Dir Sales AP, Salesforce.com

28. 2nd/3rd Careerist (3rd
Touchpoint)
• Made a bundle in 1st career
• 1st career could be radically
different from current interest
• Well established, looking for new
challenges and/or reinvention.
• Have a well established network
of their management team or
supporting cast
Examples 1: Shai Agassi's ex-SAP product chief raised $200
million from Israeli Corp and VantagePoint Venture Partners to
launch electric power network and cars. Collaboration with
Nissan/Renault and the Israeli government.

29. 2nd/3rd Careerist (3rd
Touchpoint)
• Made a bundle in 1st career
• 1st career could be radically
different from current interest
• Well established, looking for new
challenges and/or reinvention.
• Have a well established network
of their management team or
supporting cast
Examples 2: Joachim Luther (ex-director of the Fraunhofer Institute
for Solar Energy Systems): quot;In Germany, I had to retire at 65. That was
fine with me, but I love challenges, and like to create things, get
things moving. So when this offer came from Singapore, it was very
attractive. I've visited before and thought, 'Why not?’”

30. Broaden the Catchment
• Naturally attractive to 2nd touchpoint. Yet
most of our talent strategies are geared to
this group.
• What about 1st and 3rd? Can we afford to
lose out on them? Arguably, start-ups,
invention and ideas come out of 1st and 3rd.
• What appeals to them?
• How can we tailor our environment to
appeal to them? What needs to change?

31. Openness Failure, Talent, Difference

32. Openness Scared to Fail
From our interviews:
• Low tolerance for failure
• Failure not celebrated
• Less trial because fear of error
• Alternative tracks of success not celebrated
Openness Welcoming to Talent (….not quite)
Talent
From our interviews:
• Snotty to certain new PRs
• Not just about incentives. Talent re-locate and
choose based on how open and welcoming a
place is
• Looks all hunky-dory on the outside, saying the
right things, but integration is another issue

33. Openness Difference
From our interviews:
• Quirky not celebrated
• Special needs for kids
• Attractive to typical A-trackers; not all types
welcome
• Too much conformity, too little experimentation
• We self censor >>> err on the side of coloring
inside the box
“You know the Panopticon prison concept?
A circular prison, that inmates could not
know whether they were being watched, so
they always behaved as if they were being
watched….there is pervasive panopticon
mentality here….. SGP has to unshackle that
panopticon mentality, as it stifles creativity.”

34. PR Say it Better !!
1. Eliminating the (-) through Signaling
2. Proactive Pitching (+)
3. Hope for Future (+)

35. 1. Eliminating Bad PR Through Signaling
“What remains in the minds of many people when
they think Singapore is it’s the only place in the world
that bans chewing gum and that boy who got caned.
It’s unfortunate since many people I know who’s lived
here (including myself) for some time choose to live
here. But there’s such a gap in perception and what
really is. But images stick…..maybe small gesture like
lifting it will send signals and present Singapore in a
more accurate light.”
- Regular Contributor of ST
Louvre Museum exhibit of Greek
o Small signals go a long way statues, they had posters showing
their genitals up and down Orchard
o Non Issues road, and no one complained, that's
progress. We need more and more
non issues like this.
Clarence Singham

36. 2. Proactive Pitching
Previous Mindset: We have no control over our external PR
City of London engaged external consultants
to ‘craft’ positive spin about London to Indian
talents in Bangalore and Mumbai. These may
include business opportunities in upcoming
areas, the buzz of the upcoming Olympics or
success stories of other Indians who’ve gone
before and made it.

37. 2. Proactive Pitching
Previous Mindset: We have no control over our external PR
“It is a created image. Tourism .... it's not just
about that. It's about having articles written,
popping up in lifestyle magazines, people take
note and want to visit which generates more
interest, which generates more articles written
... and you have a virtuous cycle set up. ”
Sanyal on City of London outsourcing PR to
private firm to brand London to high-end talent
in Indian cities

38. 3. Hope Power of the American Dream Ideology
Inequality in America
Jun 15th 2006 ..answer to the question of where
do we go from here now that US is
indisputably the world's biggest
AMERICANS do not go in for envy. The gap power lies in whether non-
between rich and poor is bigger than in any Americans keep believing in the
other advanced country, but most people are American dream
unconcerned. Whereas Europeans fret about
the way the economic pie is divided,
Americans want to join the rich, not soak
them.
Eight out of ten, more than
anywhere else, believe that
though you may start poor, if
you work hard, you can make
pots of money. It is a central
part of the American Dream.

39. A City’s Message: Paul Graham
“Not all cities send a message.
Only those that are centers for
some type of ambition do.”
Silicon Valley Los Angeles Paris
You should be You should be more You should Berkeley
more powerful. famous. There's an A have more
List of people who style.
What matters is You should live
how much effect are most in demand better. Life is very
right now, and what's civilized. It's probably
you have on the most admired is to be Boston
Washington DC
world. New York the place in US
on it, or friends with
those who are where someone from
You should be N.Europe would feel
You should You should make smarter. You most at home. But
network more. more money. New really should get it's not humming with
The most York is pretty around to reading ambition.
important thing is impressed by a all those books
who you know. billion dollars even you've been
You want to be an if you merely meaning to.
insider. inherited it.

40. How Much Does it Matter?
“No matter how determined you are, it's
hard not to be influenced by the people
around you. It's not so much that you do
whatever a city expects of you, but that
you get discouraged when no one
around you cares about the same things
you do.”
Professors in New
York and the Bay
area are second
class citizens—till
they start hedge
funds or startups
respectively.

41. Is there a Singapore Dream?
“ There seems to be this underlying cry
for “hope” and if I dare say “dream” ”
Tan Soon Neo Jessica (MP)

42. Top Cities starting to move, can we afford not to?
Report on
Creative Britain:
New Talents for the
New Economy

43. Global cities are good generalists
University
xchange
• Anchor activities that need
R&D high quality human capital
xchange interaction
Arts & • Getting the ‘mix’ right with a
Entertainment supportive socio-economic
xchanges system is critical.
Financial
xchange • Leave spaces for organic
development in the fringe.
future
xchanges
Thinktank
xchange

44. Global cities are good generalists
University
xchange Great cities are good generalists.
London is not the best city for
everything .... art culture Paris is
better, infrastructure Frankfurt is
R&D better ... but when you put it all
xchange together, London cannot be beat.
Arts & Great cities, random linkages, the
Entertainment milieu, what makes NYC a great
city is not Wall Street, but Central
xchanges
Financial Park, Broadway... Getting all the
xchange financial bankers to Wall Street, is
also because of Columbia
University ... the great generalist,
high end high quality human
future capital wants all the other stuff to
xchanges go to after work for himself, for the
wife, for the kids.
Thinktank
Sanjeev Sanyal
xchange

45. What’s Your Colour?
Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ
Cost
ac
Focused
Green
e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial
Theories of Icon
Urban
Tech & Transport
Success Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
Joe Cortright

46. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial NYC Icon
The Colourful
Tech & Transport
Melting Pot Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

47. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial
London Icon
The Regal
Metropolitan
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

48. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Dubai
Entrepreneurial Icon
The Icon Mecca
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

49. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial
Tokyo Icon
The Metropolis
Tech & Transport of the East Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

50. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial Shanghai Icon
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

51. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial San Francisco Icon
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

52. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial Singapore 80s Icon
East West Entrepôt
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

53. Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused
Green e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial Singapore Icon
Today
Tech & Transport Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People
The Palette of Urbanism

54. Palette of Urbanism – What are your Chosen Colours?
Lowest
Amenity Pl
HQ Cost ac
Focused Green
e
s
m
Cluster Distinctive
Fir
Government Spiritual
Entrepreneurial Singapore Icon
Tech & Transport
Tomorrow Consumer
Megapolitan
Diverse Economy
Open/Connect City Human Capital City
Creative City Gateway City
Sorting City
People

55. Parking Lot
Summary:
• Attracting beyond our current
definitions of talent. Who’s looking at
touchpoints 1 & 3?
• Are we start-up friendly?
• Measures of Economic Success. GDP
+?
• Proactive pitching of a Singapore
Dream?
• What’s our city’s message?
• What’s colors do we want?