Singapore was yesterday announced as one of three "Founding Cities", along with London and Auckland, in a new global initiative designed to get millions of people active in cities around the world.
Known as Active Citizens Worldwide, the initiative was developed to provide policymakers and strategic agencies with evidence-based guidance for development of physical activity and sport interventions, national sports agency Sport Singapore said in a statement.
Chiang Hock Woon, deputy chief executive officer of Sport Singapore, said: "The Active Citizens Worldwide initiative reinforces our efforts to understand and drive long-term improvements in Singaporeans' sporting and lifestyle habits.
"As we glean and share insights from like-minded cities, we will be able to customise compelling activities and programmes to drive sport participation, foster strong and caring communities, and to help our people lead healthier and more fulfilling lives."
The Active Citizens Worldwide initiative will deliver initial benchmarking data in the second quarter of this year through a global congress and data analysis tools scheduled to be made available to the public later in the year.
Tove Okunniwa, chief executive of London Sport, whose target is to get a million Londoners among the estimated 8.8 million population more physically active by 2020, said: "Active Citizens Worldwide offers an exciting opportunity to broaden our understanding of what drives participation in cities across the globe.
"Strong insight and data are vital to effective decision-making for physical activity and sport, and the Active Citizens Worldwide initiative will afford tremendous opportunities to learn from and share global best practices."
Sarah Sandley, chief executive of Aktive, the Auckland-based body focused on getting more people involved in recreation and playing sport in New Zealand's most populous city of 1.4 million, added: ""Auckland's role as a Founding City in Active Citizens Worldwide will assist with actionable insights and monitoring that will further support Aktive and its partners with practical initiatives to deliver growth in physical activity.
"Our involvement will provide another valuable tool that will assist us here on the ground in Auckland."
Sazali Abdul Aziz
