SINGAPORE \u2013 In front of The Fullerton Hotel, five boys are either about to jump or already mid-plunge into the Singapore River \u2013 the city\u2019s historical lifeblood.<\/p>\n
They are part of a bronze sculpture named The First Generation that captures a slice of the river\u2019s history and the communities that grew up around it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sight and sound of boys, swinging from the trees that lined the river and jumping with gusto, breathed charm into the area,\u201d says a sign that describes the work.<\/p>\n
The historical communities whose lives were intertwined with the river are now gone. But at the World Cities Summit that Singapore hosted in mid-June, it was clear that such connections \u2013 bonds between people, and between communities and places \u2013 are what city leaders aspire to forge.<\/p>\n
Here are three ideas for how the country can foster a greater sense of belonging \u2013 including bringing swimming back to the Singapore River \u2013 gleaned from plenaries during the summit.<\/p>\n
Public swimming in the Singapore River<\/h2>\n
At the closing plenary, former Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo<\/a> said the city\u2019s famous clean-up of the River Seine for the 2024 Olympics \u2013 and for public swimming for the first time in a century<\/a> \u2013 was \u201cabout public health, ecological restoration, civic pride, and proclaiming the river as part of everyday urban life\u201d.<\/p>\n The words of Hidalgo \u2013 who herself took a dip in the Seine in 2024 \u2013 harkens back to 1984, when Singapore was in the midst of a decade-long effort to clean up its eponymous river.<\/p>\n