The First IURC China Training Session “ZOOM-IN China: Urbanization” Launched – International Urban and Regional Cooperation

Under the encompassing title ZOOM-IN China, on 4^th November 2021 the first online training session, Zoom-in China: urbanisation took place and gathered more than 30 representatives from IURC participating cities and regions, who are interested in the topic of urban development, urban renewal, and smart city in China. The event reviewed the timely issues in urban development, aiming to support EU-China city and regional cooperation towards an effective way and a more satisfactory result.

Alexandra Lehmann, EU Delegation to China.

The event started with the welcoming words by Alexandra Lehmann from EU Delegation to China. Her speech initiated the first encounter of participating EU cities and regions under the IURC programme. She congratulated the EU cities and regions being selected as an IURC pilot partner and envisioned an engaged and vibrant IURC community to tap into a wealth of experiences, innovations, new ideas for urban developing and innovation.

Qian Wang, Team Leader of IURC China Programme

The opening speech was followed by WANG Qian, the Team Leader of IURC China. She gave a presentation on her design thinking of the Zoom-in series programme and the plan of the further sessions.

Professor Chris Hamnett, King’s College London

The first speech was by Professor Chris Hamnett from King’s College London. He shared his observation on social and political landscape of urbanization in China by asking the question: how different is Chinese urbanization? “I think Chinese urbanization may be unique. It is bigger and much faster than in the west, and it’s also driven by different processes including local government finance and leading role of the party,” Prof. Hamnett underlined.

LIU Zhaohui, Chinese Society for Urban Studies

Subsequently, LIU Zhaohui from Chinese Society for Urban Studies examined China´s efforts in the past 10 years to develop smart city infrastructure and service, therefore create opportunities for sustainability, disaster prevention, public safety, and quality of life improvements.

The session ended with a speech by DAI Guowen from China Eco City Academy. She gave a scoping review on the strategies and approaches of urban renewal in China. She highlighted the key areas for EU-China urban climate cooperation, and suggested cooperative approach through policy dialogue, joint pilot, joint research/venture on technical application, and knowledge exchange on standards and regulations.

During the training session, the participating city and region delegates learned about the challenges, strategies, and approaches of urban transition in China, which helped them to identify potential pilot areas in the future cooperation with Chinese counterparts under in IURC China. The session was moderated by Keru Feng from IURC China team.

Agenda

PPT

01 Chris Hamnett_Urbanization in China how different

02 Chaohui LIU_Review and Prospect of Smart Cities in China

03 Guowen Dai_Sustainable Urban Renewal in China

以感知中国(ZOOM-IN China)为题， 11月4日IURC-China策划并举办了第一次在线培训，题为“中国城镇化发展”。来自IURC欧洲案例城市及区域的30多名代表参加，他们对中国的城镇发展、城市更新以及智慧城市等主题深感兴趣。本活动回顾探讨了城市发展所面临的问题，旨在支持中国及欧盟案例城市和区域间的合作，使之以有效的方式来达成令人满意的结果。

活动在欧盟驻华代表团Alexandra Lehmann女士的欢迎词中开始。她祝贺参加的欧盟城市和区域被选为IURC的合作伙伴，并擘画了一个在城市发展和创新领域上拥有丰富经验及创新想法的IURC社区平台。

IURC-China项目主任王倩随后发表讲话。她介绍了对感知系列（Zoom-in）的设计思路及后续培训计划。

来自伦敦大学国王学院的Chris Hamnett教授是首位主旨发言人。他分享了他对中国城镇化的社会和政治景观的观察，并提出了一个问题：中国的城镇化有多独特？Hamnett教授强调：”我认为中国的城镇化可能是独一无二的。跟西方国家的城市化相比，中国的规模更大、速度更快、并由不同的驱动力来推动，包括地方政府的财政支持以及党的领导作用。”