

VIJAYAWADA: In line with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s vision to transform Andhra Pradesh into a global benchmark for planned urbanisation, a high-level delegation from the Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) Department has concluded a strategic study tour of Singapore.
The visit was undertaken to analyse international best practices in urban planning, innovation-led development, and scientific solid waste management. The insights gained are intended to directly accelerate the development of the greenfield capital, Amaravati, and other major urban centres across the state.
The high-level delegation—comprising MA&UD Minister Ponguru Narayana, Principal Secretary S Suresh Kumar, and APCRDA Additional Commissioner G Surya Sai Praveenchand —engaged in focused discussions with premier institutions of Singapore.
The objective of the tour was to bridge global planning experiences with local implementation, ensuring that the state’s urban expansion remains sustainable, people-centric, and economically viable.
At NUS Cities, a multidisciplinary platform under the National University of Singapore, the delegation explored a comprehensive knowledge-sharing framework tailored for the capital region.
Because Amaravati stands as one of the world’s few large-scale greenfield capital projects, it offers a rare opportunity to integrate land use, mobility, environmental safeguards, housing, and technology from its foundational stages.
Discussions centred on leveraging international expertise in climate resilience, predictive planning systems, and data-driven city management.
Potential areas of collaboration include establishing an Urban Futures Lab, setting up urban observatories, conducting climate resilience studies, and deploying digital twin applications. The proposed tie-up aims to introduce executive training programs for state planners to introduce cutting-edge tools into urban planning workflow.