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HONG KONG (06 JULY 2021) – The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced the appointment of Khoo Teng Chye, who teaches at the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore, as chair of the ULI Asia Pacific region. Professor Khoo, fellow and former executive director at the Centre for Liveable Cities, succeeds Nicholas Brooke, chairman, Professional Property Services Limited, Hong Kong, and officially began his voluntary three-year term on 1 July 2021.

As the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum, ULI facilitates the open exchange of ideas, information and experience among local, national and international industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places. It has more than 45,000 members globally with over 2,600 of these based in the Asia Pacific region. Professor Khoo will join the ULI Global Board of Directors and brings extensive ULI leadership experience to his new role having previously served as chair of ULI Singapore (2017-19), vice chair of the ULI Asia Pacific Executive Committee (2020-21), and as a ULI Global Governing Trustee (since 2018).

“It is a great honour to be appointed as the ULI Asia Pacific Chair and I look forward to building on the legacy that Nick Brooke has left,” said Professor Khoo Teng Chye. “During his term as chair, the region has grown to over 2,600 members, and expanded the engagement opportunities by adding more in-person and virtual events, creating new Product Councils, and launching programmes such as the regional Awards for Excellence, UrbanPlan and ULI Learning.”

“Teng Chye is a widely acclaimed authority on land administration and sustainable built environments,” said David Faulkner, ULI Asia Pacific President. “He is a globally recognised industry leader with connections across different sectors and is dedicated to ULI’s mission of shaping the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. We believe that the Asia Pacific region will continue to thrive under his leadership, building on what has already been achieved so far. I’d like to also thank Nick Brooke for everything that he has contributed as chair over the past three years, and I’m delighted that he will continue to play an active role in the region’s success.”

Professor Khoo will lead the region’s efforts on three new ULI global mission priorities: decarbonising the real estate sector and targeting net zero; educating the next generation of diverse real estate leaders; and, increasing housing attainability in communities around the world. All three priorities will be underpinned by a commitment and focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which recognises that our communities can only be successful and sustainable if they work for everyone. In addition, the ULI Asia Pacific region will be developing key themes of work around building a presence in capital markets, technology and innovation.

“Being a ULI member is more important than ever as we collaborate to navigate some of the key challenges facing real estate,” said Professor Khoo. “Pushing net zero to the top of our agenda is absolutely essential to ensure that we are creating sustainable and resilient cities but, as an industry, we need to consider all of the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors to truly have a positive impact on society. Everyone deserves a decent, safe and attainable place to live, and we will be looking at creative housing solutions that build vibrant communities.”

Professor Khoo added: “We have ambitions to grow ULI’s membership throughout the Asia Pacific region, including in new markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam. In order to do this, it is vital that we are staying ahead of the curve in terms of providing programming that looks at future investment opportunities and considering ‘big picture’ topics like the influence of PropTech. We will leverage ULI’s global platform so that there are learning and networking opportunities for the leading players in real estate, benefiting from collaborating with some of the best and the brightest in the industry.”

Professor Khoo will be supported in his role by a new vice chair of the ULI Asia Pacific region: Hei Ming Cheng (ULI China Mainland chair), founder and chairman of KaiLong Group, China. In addition to both of these appointments, five new members of the ULI Asia Pacific Executive Committee will commence new terms on 1 July 2021, including WLI representative Magdelene Chua, real estate assurance partner, PwC, Singapore; and members-at large Scott Dunn, vice president, strategy & growth, Southeast Asia, AECOM-AP, Singapore; Hwang Yu-Ning, chief planner and deputy CEO, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore; Jon Tanaka, managing director and senior advisor, Angelo Gordon International LLC Tokyo, Japan; and, James Wong, executive director, Hon Kwok Land Investment Co., Hong Kong.

Completing changes to the ULI Asia Pacific Executive Committee, Phil Kim managing director, Asia Pacific Jerde Partnership has been appointed as the ULI Hong Kong chair and Benett Theseira, managing director, head of Asia Pacific, PGIM Real Estate, has been appointed as the ULI Singapore chair.

At a global level, 34 real estate industry luminaries have been added to the roster of ULI’s Global Governing Trustees, including six from the Asia Pacific region: Benett Theseira; Tim Blackburn, chief executive officer, Chinese mainland Swire Properties, Beijing; Kristine Li, acting general manager, portfolio leasing department, Henderson Land Development Company Limited, Hong Kong; Carrie Liu, general manager, China Life Asset Management Company Ltd., Shanghai; Stephanie Lo, executive director, Shui On Land, Hong Kong; and Hiroo Mori, director and executive vice president, Mori Building Company Ltd., Tokyo.

For more information about ULI Asia Pacific and its programme of events, visit asia.uli.org.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About the Urban Land Institute

• The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
• ULI has more than 2,600 members in the Asia Pacific region. For more information on ULI Asia Pacific, visit asia.uli.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.