Expert Voices
Chinese Key Players and Experts Share their Thoughts Jaap Modder & Frank D’hondt
On the last day of the UPAT Workshop in Wuhan, the ISOCARP team presented its findings in a meeting with Chinese key players and experts. In this contribution we will clip some quotes from key stakeholders but focus on the feedback from leading experts representing the professional and the scientific urban planning community in China, respectively Dr. Shi Nan, Vice Chairman of the Urban Planning Society of China and Dr. Li Zhigang, Professor and Dean of the School of Urban Design at Wuhan University.
Dr Shi Nan Shi Nan sees a direct link between the Zhongshan Avenue project and Wuhan’s ambition to develop Wuhan as an international metropolis. Upgrading of urban functions in the downtown area, not only the Zhongshan Avenue, is a condition to reach that goal. A second important point to stress is the role public participation played in the Zhongshan Avenue project. It’s important to find a new balance (in the urban planning practice in China) between government’s goals and the views and interests of the public and the business community. Shi Nan referred to a recent message by President Xi Jinping where he declared urban planning to become an important means in the
Shi Nan presented three proposals to facilitate further improvement. First idea is his plea for connecting space improvement with reconstruction of housing in the downtown area. That way a shift can be made that is different from policies in place since the 1980s, with an increasing emphasis on local people’s needs. The second proposal deals with culture. Shi Nan endorses UPAT’s comment on the important role literature and film in the image of an international city. In Nan’s view, Wuhan and the wider region should better exploit and brand its cultural treasures. Third and last, the conditions for cycling should be further improved, in line with the UPAT recommendations. In conclusion, Dr Shi Nan believes the Zhongshan Avenue Renewal Project will play a significant, exemplary and guiding role not only in Wuhan but even for entire China.
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I have not been to Zhongshan Avenue for quite a long time but this morning I rode on a bicycle to visit the new Zhongshan Avenue and was pleasantly surprised by its transformation. I paid a visit to the museum, and felt fantastic after getting a view of the water tower and the art squares etc. The joy of biking could be further improved by providing more space for cycling. All in all, this project is so much more than a street design and engineering project. We should learn from this project to further improve heritage, culture and community driven planning and urban transformation.
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national governance. Involvement of all social aspects but also integrating heritage and cultural issues in the urban planning endeavors are part of this. According to Shi Nan, Wuhan has strong opportunities in this respect. Therefore, the Zhongshan Avenue project shouldn’t be just considered as an engineering project; it’s much more. This project plays a significant role in upgrading the city functions, city life and city governance, claims Shi Nan.
Addressing his Chinese colleagues, Nan advocates to capitalise on the know-how to optimize this project and find a balance on the projects’ economy, to make it affordable for the city and its users. It can and should be reproducible elsewhere, according to Shi Nan. Shi Nan thanked the ISOCARP team “for their excellent work… which is of reference value to other cities”.
Plan Wuhan
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