Singapore is the 17th most liveable city in the world according to Monocle Magazine

#17: Singapore's newly blossoming cultural landscape

Today's Singapore bears little resemblance to the city of 10 years ago
By Daven Wu, Monocle Magazine
Published: June 19, 2007

Singapore's landscape is blossoming, with talented local architects making their mark alongside international stars such as Toyo Ito, Moshe Safdie and Kohn Pedersen Fox; and the arts scene has seen a flowering of museums, performing arts venues and galleries.

It's still conservative but this city state is enjoying a cultural boom.

Today's Singapore bears little resemblance to the city of just 10 years ago.

The landscape is blossoming, with talented local architects making their mark alongside international stars such as Toyo Ito, Moshe Safdie and Kohn Pedersen Fox; and the arts scene has seen a flowering of museums, performing arts venues and galleries.

Much of this is the work of native Singaporeans who studied and worked abroad - in London, Tokyo, Vancouver, Sydney - and, for professional or personal reasons, have now come home.

The city now has a First World standard of living that is, save for exorbitant prices for cars and land, extremely affordable. It boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Its communication, health, public housing and transportation systems are first-rate and the regulatory and financial systems are transparent and efficient.

Singapore metrics :

Population: 4.48 million.

International flights: Singapore's Changi Airport is served by 80 airlines with over 4,000 flights a week to 180 cities in 57 countries.

Crime: murders, 17 (2006, all solved); domestic break-ins, 1,123.

Sunshine: annual average, 2,034 hours.

Temperatures: the average temperature rarely fluctuates from the 30C mark with slight dips during the monsoons from late November to January.

Wired: it's near impossible to find a place in Singapore that's not wired. Mobile coverage is excellent, even on the underground.

Tolerance: a policy of social and racial integration has resulted in a society that's remarkably harmonious. Gay sex remains a crime but the government adopts a cautious turn-a-blind-eye approach.

This survey is excerpted from issue five of Monocle magazine.