中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Shanghai, 31 March 2013 — The meeting on the Prospect of EU-China Urbanisation Cooperation, co-organized by the China-Europa Forum (CEF) and the China Centre for Urban Development (CCUD), with support from the DG Energy of the European Commission, was held in Shanghai on 31 March within the framework of the “2013 China International Urbanisation Forum”.

More than a hundred participants (government officials, mayors, urban experts, scholars, civilian representatives and entrepreneurs) from Europe and China attended the event to discuss problems faced by China and Europe in terms of urbanisation and ways of dealing with these challenges. Mr Pedro Ballesteros, International Relations Officer, European coordinator of the EU-China Partnership on Urbanization, DG Energy of the European Commission, and representatives of the Delegation of the European Union in Beijing attended the event.

The meeting comprised four sessions each with five or six speakers. More than 20 speakers presented case studies and shared experiences based on their own knowledge, research and practices. The aim was to identify the various dimensions of the transition towards sustainable societies carried out by Chinese and European cities and to review promising prospects.

In his opening address Mr Pierre Calame, President of the CEF Foundation, noted that Chinese and European cities and territories faced a common challenge. This was leading the transition towards sustainable societies while reconciling social welfare and social cohesion with a drastic diminution of fossil fuel and non-renewable natural resources consumption, so as to be in harmony with the major equilibriums of the planet. For his part Mr Pedro Ballesteros emphasised that climate change and the scarcity of natural resources were two thorny issues for the global community. He underlined the importance of EU-China cooperation in the right way of using resources and resolving problems.

Chinese and European speakers touched on a dozen key issues about the urbanisation process. Ms QIU Aijun, Deputy Director of the CCUD, analysed the trends, challenges and policy suggestions of urbanisation in China while Mr Jacques Saint Marc, Delegate of the President of the Interdepartmental Steering Committee in France, highlighted harmonious land uses in urbanization. Professor ZHANG Renbiao of the Tongji University detailed a new concept of space in urbanisation: from “Geographical-Physical-Economic Space” to “Cultural-Psychological-Public Space”. Professor Cheng Guang, of the Southwest Jiaotong University, put forward the cutting-edge issue of “How can the quality of urbanisation be evaluated?” illustrating his subject with the case of Chengdu. Mr Pierre Bauby, President of the RAP (Reconstruire l’Action Publique), introduced the role of urban public services and the importance of multi-level governance in public services.

The issue of food safety was also a serious problem among food challenges in China and Europe. Mr Maurizio Mariani, President of the Consortium Risteco, and Dr TAN Xuewen of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, shared their experiences and developments regarding the Eating City Platform. They called for smart food policies in smart cities.

Mr Jean René Brunetière, from the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Territory Management, took France as an example to illustrate interaction between national and local policies leading to sustainable development in the European Union, and Mr XIE Yang highlighted the importance of the integration of migrant workers in the new process of China’s urbanisation. Mr Edouard Laurent shared Geneva’s implementation of industrial ecology principles.

After the meeting, Pedro Ballesteros, Pierre Calame, Maurizio Mariani and Marc Glaudemans, Professor of Urban Strategies, Architecture and Planning at the European Urban Design Lab in Tilburg, the Netherlands, took part in a China Business News talk-show on Urbanisation.

The Fifth China International Urbanisation Forum, co-organised by the China Centre for Urban Development (CCUD), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Bank, was held on March 30 and 31 in Shanghai.

Download full text!