Sustainable Places Research Institute

Shenzen, China

After three decades of rapid economic development and urbanisation, China is facing up to the great challenge of sustainability. Urbanization and population growth has put real pressure on the Chinese planning process and has made sustainable urban development more urgent than ever. 

The Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACE) has been working with the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Chinese Society of Urban Studies and Shenzhen Institute of Urban Planning & Design on the project: Shenzhen Eco-city Development Indicator System.

Shenzhen, which has developed to be a megacity with a population of 14 million in 2010 from 30,000 in 1989, is a typical example of rapid development and urbanisation.  As one of the first Special Economic Zones in China, with an economic management system that is especially conducive to doing business that does not exist in the rest of mainland China, Shenzhen is now trying to develop as a pilot eco-city in accordance with the memorandum of understanding between Shenzhen Municipal Government and the Chinese Central Government Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The formulation of the eco-city development indicator system will be used to guide the sustainable development of Shenzhen in future years. It will also be promoted and introduced to other Chinese cities as a model of best practice.

Outputs

Research Report
The initial main output from this study was a research report delivered to the Shenzhen Municipality in March 2011. To download the Chinese version of this report please click here

(An English summary of this report will be available in autumn 2011)

Presentations

The contributions of the PLACE team to Shenzhen Eco-city Development Indicator System project informed a series of presentations made to the International Conference of Chinese City Planning and Development in June 2011 in Yangzhou, China. The presentation files are available to download here:

• Critical Analysis of Chinese Eco-City development - Yu Li

• The Ecological Footprint and Spatial Planning - A Flynn

• Planning for Sustainable City-Regions: Cultivating the Value of Community Engagement and Social Innovation – A Franklin

Two other presentations, one covering Eco-Cites, the other addressing sustainable rural tourism in China, are also available for download:

• Eco-Cities and the Conventional City: Opportunities and Challenges – Andrew Flynn

• Nong Jia Le and Sustainable Communities - Julie Newton