The central business district of Singapore

Host of the 117th IOC Session, Singapore made its first formal bid to host a multi-disciplinary sporting event of this magnitude. Positive factors in its bid included its high connectivity with the world, its youthfulness as an independent country, and its reputation for excellence and multi-racial harmony.

The city-state rolled out a high-publicity campaign which included being amongst the first to launch its official website, bid logo (despite IOC rules against bid logos) and a bid tagline "Blazing the Trail" on 16 October 2007 and getting the local population to support its bid, including an effort by students to collect 1 million signatures in support of the games.

The Logo-Making Competition for the Games attracted 1,500 participants and the winning design was unveiled on January 10, 2010. Entitled 'Spirit Of Youth', the official logo, according to the organizers, showcases passion for sports and the values of Olympism.

Singapore originally planned to use the National University of Singapore’s University Town for a high tech Youth Olympic Village. However the rapid increase in construction costs in 2008 resulted in the shifting of the Youth Olympic Village to Nanyang Technological University in Jurong West. Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre will also feature prominently in the games.

There were concerns that the plan contained two new venues - the Olympic Village and equestrian complex. With concerns over delivering in time for the games, a construction expert reported the $423 million Olympic Village plan at the University was feasible. (There is a backup plan as well.) Similarly, the expert believed the equestrian venue could be delivered on time.

The budget is $75.5 million and has strong government support. The plan is also attractive because of its compactness in the Singapore city-state.