URA's Urban Lab unveils AI tools to transform urban planning and urban systems

1       From predicting estate maintenance faults before they occur to managing unsafe parking in real time, Singapore is deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the full life cycle of how the city is planned, built and managed. These developments are among the highlights of 'AI for Cities', a new exhibition launched today by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development, at The URA Centre.

2       The exhibition is the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) 13th edition of the Urban Lab series, which presents innovative solutions that potentially improve everyday life in Singapore. For the first time, Urban Lab has brought together a curated showcase of 10 exhibits to trace the evolution of AI in the built environment sector alongside the broader advancements in the field itself, from machine learning and deep learning to the latest breakthroughs in generative AI and agentic AI. These innovations build on Singapore’s strong data-driven planning to deepen our understanding of complex urban systems, anticipate future challenges and enable more informed, responsive decision-making.

3       Among the highlights is URA’s Mobile AI Detection system which increases the reliability and reach of parking patrols across Singapore. Mounted on patrol vehicles, the system uses deep learning-based computer vision to automatically detect unsafe parking behaviours as the patrol vehicles move along the roads, enabling more comprehensive coverage and helping to keep roads and car parks safer for everyone.

4       Ms Indranee Rajah also highlighted URA’s new DC Assistant, a Large Language Model (LLM) chatbot designed to help developers, architects and members of the public navigate URA’s development control guidelines with greater ease and clarity. Having piloted the tool internally, URA will make the DC Assistant available to the industry later this year, as part of its ongoing efforts to harness AI to deliver user-centric services.

5       As a city-state with limited land, adopting smarter and more efficient solutions is paramount to navigating the growing complexities of land use planning, city management, and service delivery. AI holds the potential to enhance many aspects of everyday life in our urban environment — from smoother commutes to more efficient public services and a cleaner, greener environment. Urban planners can harness AI to collate data and gain deeper insights into our urban environment, to optimise resources and respond more effectively to evolving needs.

6       The exhibition brings together a diverse group of participants, including research institutions, industry partners, and government agencies, to showcase innovations that bring these ideas to life, and demonstrate their potential to be scaled up to shape cities that are more liveable, sustainable, and resilient. More information on the highlights of the exhibition can be found in the Annex [PDF, 155.78 KB].

7       “At its core, AI in urban planning is about serving people, helping us make better use of different data, understand our city more deeply, and respond more effectively to the needs of those who live, work and play here. The applications presented in this exhibition reflect the work being done across agencies, Institutions of Higher Learning and industry partners to explore how AI can support more informed planning and more efficient city operations,” said Mr Chiu Wen Tung, Group Director of Research & Development at URA.

8       ‘AI for Cities’ will be exhibited at The URA Centre Atrium from 3 June 2026 to 21 August 2026. Admission is free. During the exhibition period, URA's regular guided tours of the Singapore City Gallery will include an additional 15-minute highlights segment on the exhibition. Sign up for the guided Gallery tours at go.gov.sg/scgcommunitytours. For more information on the ‘AI for Cities’ exhibition, please visit go.gov.sg/AIforCities.

About the Urban Lab
The Urban Lab is an initiative by URA that showcases innovative R&D and urban solutions for a more liveable, sustainable, and future-ready city. Since January 2015, this has contributed towards URA’s efforts to bring R&D out of the labs to the community and public domain, so as to foster a more conducive environment where the R&D community, industry and agencies can learn and share new ideas, ignite discussions, and forge partnerships and collaborations.