When people treat public spaces like their homes, the city becomes lovable because of the love, care and consideration its denizens bestow on it.
For my family on a recent trip, the highlight came at the end of our dinner at the tower’s revolving restaurant.
I told my husband, who was working that evening, what had happened. “It’s ren qing wei,” he said succinctly, using a Mandarin term that is perhaps best yet inadequately translated as “the human touch”. We were treated with kindness by someone who did not have to offer it, and who did not stand to gain anything from it. There was nothing remotely transactional or premeditated about it.
Singapore came in 37th, and also performs well in smaller-scale surveys such as those conducted by Mercer, ECA International and Monocle. They all offer comparisons of what life in each city could be like, generally from the perspective of expatriates, but also of relevance to Singaporeans, looking at factors from personal safety and air quality to censorship and climate.
This is hardly an achievement to be taken lightly, even as ever-evolving challenges from housing affordability to societal schisms arise, necessitating a constant juggling act of political and policy solutions.But is it a lovable one? What makes a city lovable? It’s not meant to be prescriptive – the fastest way to kill any romance. The ways we love a city are as complex as ourselves, and as disparate as our individual experiences.
Some suggestions lie outside our borders. As the world emerges from the pandemic and travel returns with a vengeance, it is an opportunity to experience again other cities.“Hong Kong has so many textures I felt dizzy trying to take it all in as I walked about the Central districts yesterday.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tesla job listings sighted for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia positions - customer support, operations, charging, IT - paultan.orgThe ‘Careers’ section of the Tesla website has turned up job openings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia across several categories including sales and customer support, operations, charging, engineering and IT as well as human resources; all …
Read more »
Gazette of Kuala Lumpur structure plan postponed to May 31 | The Malaysian InsightAnwar says he will allow stakeholders more time to provide feedback.
Read more »
May 30 decision on whether ex-Labuan MP needs to enter defence | The Malaysian InsightKuala Lumpur Sessions Court sets date after hearing submissions in Rozman Isli’s case.
Read more »