As the holidays draw to a close and we begin the new year, I would like to thank our members, sponsors, partners, and our dedicated ULI Asia Pacific leadership for your continued support of ULI in the region. Please know that because of your support our institute is helping to make a positive impact on how urban areas are growing throughout Asia Pacific.

2012 marked the fifth year of ULI’s presence in Asia Pacific and I am excited about the region’s accomplishments in 2012. ULI’s best work results from locally driven initiatives that are connected to our global mission, which is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. There are many examples from 2012 but of particular significance were:

• The first-ever ULI Asia Pacific Summit, held in Beijing, drew more than 300 attendees from 20 countries. With sustainable urban development as the theme, ULI partnered with influential organizations such as the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce and Tsinghua University to produce an event that far exceeded our expectations and which was uniformly praised for its high-caliber speakers and outstanding networking opportunities. Please mark your diaries for the 2013 Asia Pacific Summit in Shanghai from 4-6 June!
• In December, ULI Mainland China held their first annual meeting with a program focused on delivering quality developments — an outstanding example of a local ULI initiative aligned with global ULI priorities.
• The “10 Principles of Sustainable Development for Metro Manila Urban Core+” and “10 Principles for Liveable, High Density Cities — Lessons Learned from Singapore” projects — important locally driven initiatives that engage the public, private, and community sectors on important land use issues.
• Important strategic alliances were undertaken with the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce, the Property Council of Australia, and the National University of Singapore’s Institute for Real Estate Studies.
• Brandon Sedloff (Managing Director, Asia Pacific), Kenneth Rhee (Chief Representative, Mainland China), Stephanie Ng (Senior Associate, Membership and Programming), Vivian Huang (Mainland China Coordinator), and Andrew Ness (Lead ULI Asia Research Consultant) were all welcomed to the ULI Asia Pacific team.
• For the first time in ULI’s 75-year history we have more than 1,000 members in Asia Pacific.

Thanks again to each of you for your support of ULI. We look forward to an even more meaningful year ahead for ULI Asia Pacific in 2013.

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year!

John P. Fitzgerald
Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Asia Pacific
Urban Land Institute