Fellowships

City Network for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Fellowships

Mayoral Fellowship

The City Network for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Mayoral Fellowship was formally launched by the Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lawrence Wong, during the World Cities Summit 2026 Opening Ceremony. It is a flagship leadership programme that brings together a select group of city leaders for peer learning, knowledge exchange and collaboration. The Fellowship aims to strengthen urban leadership capabilities, foster lasting connections among mayors, and encourage the sharing of innovative approaches to urban governance and city development.

Through leadership dialogues, mentorship, and engagements with Singapore’s political leaders and urban practitioners, Fellows gain insights into key urban challenges and the policies, strategies and partnerships required to address them. The Fellowship also provides opportunities for participants to share their own experiences and perspectives, contributing to mutual learning across the Network.

The inaugural cohort comprises four Mayoral Fellows: Ms Hemlata Diwakar (Mayor of Agra, India), Mr Ciprian Ciucu (Mayor of Bucharest, Romania), Mr Samuel Dusengiyumva (Mayor of Kigali, Rwanda), and Dr Nasiphi Moya (Mayor of Tshwane, South Africa), alongside two Visiting Fellows, Ms Anne Hidalgo (Former Mayor of Paris, France) and Mr Jan Vapaavuori (Former Mayor of Helsinki, Finland).

Research Fellowship

The City Network for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Research Fellowship is a new initiative to support member cities for joint research, aimed at co-creating transformative knowledge to shape the next generation of urban knowledge and innovation and encouraging mutual learning. This reflects the spirit and collaborative nature of the Network.

The topics of Mobility and Housing were jointly selected by the Network cities as the focus of the inaugural Research Fellowship cycle.

Cities exploring Housing will examine how housing systems can function as social infrastructure, remain resilient amidst climate change, along with the policy and planning levers needed to enable this.

Cities exploring Mobility will focus on practical strategies to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility, and new models of collaboration to deliver transformative mobility projects.

Members of the Network will continue to convene collective discussion to shape the conversations and topics for future Research Fellowship cycles as part of the Network’s Research Fellowship Publication Series.

The topics of Mobility and Housing were jointly selected by the Network cities as the focus of the inaugural two-year Research Fellowship cycle.

Mobility: Cities exploring Mobility, comprising Antwerp (University of Antwerp), Brisbane (Committee for Brisbane), and New York City (Regional Plan Association), will examine practical strategies to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility, and new models of collaboration to deliver transformative mobility projects.

Housing: Cities exploring Housing, comprising Copenhagen (BLOXHUB), Hamburg (HafenCity University), and Melbourne (Centre for Cities), will examine how housing systems can function as social infrastructure, remain resilient amidst climate change, along with the policy and planning levers needed to enable this.

Urban Leaders Fellowship

The Urban Leaders Fellowship is a biennial immersive learning programme open to all Prize Network cities to gain firsthand insights in the host cities’ transformative strategies and initiatives and to learn from one another. Featuring site visits, workshops and discussions, the first edition was hosted by Bilbao in April 2026, with city leaders joining from Antwerp, Cape Town, Hamburg, Taipei, Toronto, Vienna and Singapore.

City leaders from Antwerp, Cape Town, Hamburg, Taipei, Toronto, Vienna, Singapore and the Bilbao City Council team, at the inaugural edition of Urban Leaders Fellowship in Bilbao. © Urban Redevelopment Authority

The second edition was hosted by Singapore in June 2026, in conjunction with World Cities Summit 2026. City leaders from Bilbao, Brisbane, Budapest, Hamburg, Lisbon, London, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto gathered to exchange insights and experiences on shaping vibrant, distinctive cities and on the governance and innovation needed to drive urban change. The programme included site visits and sharing sessions with Singapore government agencies, providing participants with insights into Singapore’s approach to city planning, urban design and governance.

City leaders from across the LKYWCP Network gathered at URA during the second Urban Leaders Fellowship, hosted by Singapore in June 2026. © Urban Redevelopment Authority