Cheong Koon Hean

Chairman, Centre for Liveable Cities (Ministry of National Development)

Chairman, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (Singapore University of Technology and Design)

Prof Cheong Koon Hean is currently Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities (Ministry of National Development) as well as a Practice Professor and Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (Singapore University of Technology and Design). She was formerly the CEO of the Housing and Development Board from 2010 to 2020, overseeing some 1 million public housing flats and introduced a new generation of well designed, community centric, sustainable and smart public housing. Prof Cheong was also CEO of Urban Redevelopment Authority from 2004 to 2010 and concurrently the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of National Development from 2001 to 2016, with extensive experience in land use planning, conservation of built heritage, the real estate market, public housing, governance and policy. She played a key role in major urban transformations such as Singapore’s new city extension Marina Bay and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City.

She has served on numerous advisory panels including the World Economic Forum Council and is currently on the international advisory panels on Asia Sustainable Infrastructure and Urban Solutions and Sustainability. She is a board trustee of the National University of Singapore, former Deputy President and current Council member of the International Federation for Housing & Planning, Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize’s Nominating Committee, Senior Advisor on Public Sector Sustainability (MSE), a Fellow(Life) and Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Architects and Institute of Planners respectively.

Prof Cheong has been conferred numerous awards, notably the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding public service and is the first Asian to receive both the 2016 Urban Land Institute’s Prize for Urban Visionaries and the Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.