Abstract

This roundtable aims to spearhead a conversation on how city Mayors can foster greater social inclusion through public spaces, shared programmes, and civic organisation activities.

Rotterdam and Singapore are both multicultural societies (i.e., with many religions and races) with densely populated neighbourhoods. Both cities encounter similar difficulties in bridging the different tribal identities, be that about religious, racial, nationality, or class-based divides. The exchange of thought leadership from both Eastern and Western contexts aims to inspire a robust and critical review on the current state of diversity, emerging challenges, and the best practices and solutions that can nurture stronger, more cohesive communities. Importantly, this seminar will focus on how we can ensure public spaces remain inclusive and accessible, expand common touch points, and the legislations and norms that are in placed to manage places of worships (e.g., mosques, churches, synagogues, temples), and to prevent the formation of enclaves. The exchange of perspectives on local governance, civic participation, and scholarly reflection will raise our quality of conversations and knowledge of social cohesion research and practice.

Speakers

Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb was the Mayor of Rotterdam city from 2009 to 2024. A native of Morocco, he arrived in the Netherlands at the age of 15. He is the first Muslim Mayor in the Western European city. Mr Aboutaleb received the Dutch Royal Award “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau” in 2006, and the “World Mayor Award” by the London-based think-tank City Mayors Foundation in 2021.

Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman is a Member of Parliament for Marine Parade Group Representative Constituency and is concurrently the Mayor of South East District. Prior to his political career, Mr Fahmi has served in the Singapore Armed Forces for 26 years. He was Deputy Chief Executive at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore from 2019 to 2020.