This was more so in an age of rapid urbanisation and ageing, coupled with the influx of immigrants in many cities, according to a report in Today Online.

Speaking at a forum at the World Cities Summit, Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, said the bottomline was that people must feel that their lives could improve, and that an open economy “need not be a zero-sum game”.

Ensuring that there were good jobs at every stage of one’s career was one example of government intervention needed, he said.

“We need strategies that give people good jobs — starting from the young, those in mid-career — and good lives as they enter retirement. They must feel that the models we have — social models, economic models — are ones which they are included in, and their lives can improve,” he was quoted as saying.

He said: “We have to find ways to take advantage of an open global economy in a way that doesn’t mean some people win, some people lose. It need not be a zero-sum game. There will always be some people winning more than others. But everyone has to basically see their lives improving.”

“It requires government intervention, and it requires social compacts. We’ve got to help everyone who’s losing out — (those who are) retrenched from their jobs, or whose industry is down because of new industries (replacing them), technologies that displace people. We’ve got to help them quickly when that happens, provide them training and resources to get new jobs available,” he added.

Tharman said, according to the report, that society must get involved in creating a liveable city, where key elements would include common spaces for people to interact, and a social capital and culture.