The China-EU conference on Sustainable Urbanisation took place on Oct 26th in Beijing. The event was co-organised by the Innovation Platform on Sustainable Urbanisation (URBAN-EU-CHINA) and other Chinese Academies and supported among others by the Delegation of the European Union to China and JPI Urban Europe.
The 2017 China-EU Conference on Sustainable Urbanisation aimed to build on and continue the previous achievements of the EU-China Urbanisation Partnership, which was agreed in May 2012 by President Barroso and Premier Li Keqiang. In 2017, the five-year anniversary of this Partnership is now commemorated.
The conference brought together urban planners, policy makers, industry experts, practitioners, and scholars from China and Europe to share their insights, experience and solutions to the Innovation-Driven Development in New Areas. Delegates included representatives from the European Union and Chinese governments, European city mayors, urbanisation experts, and decision makers who discussed innovative-led recommendations for the future approach to sustainable urbanisation, EU-China joint strategies, co-funding, as well as an exchange of knowledge and facilitation of science-city-industry partnerships.
In the panel on Defining Future Pathways: Innovation-Driven Urban Development Ingolf Schaedler, Chair of JPI Urban Europe, shared and reflected the importance and contribution of urban research and innovation for urban transition and the development of New Areas with distinguished Chinese and European experts. As Prime Minister Xi Jinping has set out quality and efficiency as the two key issues for China’s development, the discussion centred around the implications and requirements for China’s urbanisation using the flagship initiative on Xiongan New Area as a reference for testing and establishing a new model. The importance of connecting sustainable urbanisation with high quality economic growth and the establishment of new regional collaborative models were widely emphasised. At the same time Chinese experts called for institutional reforms, new standards and values for urban development based upon people-centred approaches. European strategies and cases were used to share experiences and build a common ground for future ambitions and cooperation.