Dr. Lai Choo MALONE-LEE is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities (CSAC) at the School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. She is a researcher on urban issues, with specific interest in urban sustainability, particularly on its nexus with development, economic growth and city culture. She lectures and writes on issues of city densification, livability and wellbeing and their links to sustainability. Together with her research team in CSAC, she has been investigating planning strategies for sustainable growth, particularly for cities in developing countries in Asia, which are complex and challenging but which also present tremendous opportunities for growth and development. She believes that regenerative processes and ecological resource management are fundamental for our cities’ future.

Before academia, Dr. Malone-Lee worked with the Singapore government in several areas, including strategic planning and heritage conservation. With a strong background on urban public policy and governance, she contributes to policy debates on critical urban issues through several government committees and think tanks. Regionally, she is a consultant with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). She serves as a Board Member of Singapore’s National Parks Board.