The People's Republic of China Urban Knowledge Hub

Background

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) Urban Knowledge Hub was launched in 2010 to facilitate information and experience exchange within the PRC and between the PRC and developing countries in the Asia and Pacific Region. The initiative is designed to improve urban management by creating knowledge and capacity for urban development based on sustainable development principles.

The PRC Urban Knowledge Hub is a pioneering initiative made possible through partnership between the East Asia Department of the Asia Development Bank and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai. The partners aim to expand this partnership to include a range of organizations, agencies, and institutions.

Concept and approach

Urbanization presents both challenges and opportunities for reducing poverty and ensuring balanced economic development.

The urban population of the Asia and Pacific Region is projected to increase from 1.77 billion to 2.67 billion over the next 20 years. Countries in the region share many of the same issues in providing livable cities for their growing urban populations.

Well-managed urban centers provide a decent living environment, meet the service needs of diverse populations, and attract private investment that maintains economic development. Badly-managed urban centers experience high levels of social instability and environmental pollution and do not have infrastructure capable of maintaining economic growth.

To manage sustainable urban development, the PRC is already synthesizing and transferring urban good practice from both its well-developed and dynamic metropolises in the coastal region and its less-developed towns in the remote, land-locked, central and western region. The Urban Knowledge Hub will facilitate the creation and transfer of urban good practice both within the PRC and with other countries in the Asia and Pacific Region facing similar issues.

Activities

Collating and sharing existing documented good practices
Collating and sharing existing documented good practices through the resources center at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai.
Facilitating the creation of good practices case studies that are demand driven and of high quality
Arranging training events at the training center at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai.
Networking with other agencies and actors supporting urban development

Events

Date	Activity	Venue
14-15 November 2012	Annual Urban Knowledge Seminar Urban Transition: Focus on the regeneration of industrial urban sites and good practices for industrial relocation	Tongji University, Shanghai, PRC
15 - 17 November 2011	Asian Urban Forum 2011: Financing Future Cities Focus on the investments necessary for green, competitive, and inclusive cities in Asia. Target participants include ministers, city managers, and other decision makers from both the public and private sector.	ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines
4 November 2011	Urban Knowledge Seminar Financing preservation and redevelopment in historic towns	Shanghai
18 - 20 October 2010	Urban Knowledge Seminar Urban Planning, Sustainable Buildings, & Wastewater Management (First Urban Knowledge Hub Workshop), Tongji University, Shanghai	Tongji University, Shanghai

Contacts

Joanna Masic
Urban Development Specialist, Asian Development Bank
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