By Mabel Tan

“I believe that people make the city, and the city shapes the people living in it. Hence, urban planning is the fundamental aspect of this constant interaction,” Teo Tsu-Lyn says.

The 24-year-old Urban Planner with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) believes that good urban planning is about balancing people’s needs with the city’s spatial constraints. Crucially, it is also about putting people at the heart of this planning process.

Complementing urban planning is urban design; this is where 27-year-old Nicholas Li, an architect with URA, comes in. Urban design guides the design of buildings and how it relates to its surroundings, and enhances the quality of the urban landscape.

Both Tsu-Lyn and Nicholas share the common objective of enhancing the quality of the urban scene with their planning and design skills.