In the morning of July 14th, 2014, the ‘Meeting Shanghai Walking Seminar’ was opened in Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre. As one of the official activities for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, this seminar is another communication activity with the theme of urban planning practice in both China and France, after the ‘2010 Forum on Sino-French Architecture and Urban Development’ held in Tongji University in May, 2005.

The seminar was organized by Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine from France, Tongji University, Shanghai Planning and Land Resource Administration Bureau, undertaken by WHITRAP Shanghai and Observatoine de I’ Architecture de la Chine Contemporaine (OACC), and supported by Xuhui Planning and Land Resource Administration Bureau, Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute, ADEME, Institut Francis de Chine and La France en Chine.

During the opening ceremony, Mr Zhiqiang WU, the vice-president of Tongji University, Mr Pierre MANSAT, the general inspector of de la Ville de Paris, Ms Francoise GED, the director of OACC, the French national architects Mr Rémi FERRAND and Ms Emilie CAM gave the connection speech to introduce the background and method of the seminar in details. Meanwhile, the organizers also invited the specialists from both China and France in different fields to give excellent keynote speeches, which were as followed respectively:
 -Mr Sébastien BECK, the lawyer of Sino-French Association of Environment, Build City on the City – The Legal Issues on Rehabilitation of Polluted Sites
 -Ms Lin WANG, the director of the Historic Conservation Department in Shanghai Planning and Land Resources Administration Bureau, Presentations of Case Studies in Shanghai: Urban Renewal and Heritage Protection
 -Mr Hai YU, the professor of Sociology, Fudan University, About the Shanghainese Space: Dynamic and Intuitions
 -Mr Yetong GUAN, the director of Xuhui District Land Authority, Introduction to the Master Plan of Xuhui District and the Routes of Field Trip

Afterwards, Mr Bo LIU, the curator of the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, led the participants to the theme exhibition ‘Retain the Nostalgia – Urban Life and Historical Memory’. The exhibition showed the urban historical cultural resourses such as abundant Shikumen Lilong, architecture of industrial heritage, the residential blocks with historic significance, classic characteristics streets, and introduced the process of the conservation on historical characteristics in Shanghai, including the detailed introduction of Caoyang Residential Quarter, the first Gongren residential block in China, the transformation of industrial heritage like 17th National Textile Mill, Long Art Gallery, etc., the features of Lilong architecture in Jing’an District and the classic projects on characteristics conservation, based on the understanding of the conservation system of Shanghai historical characteristics and the current status of protection. The excellent introduction from Mr Bo LIU and the commentators enabled the participants to have a better understand of Shanghai’s spirits, which are innovation, changeful, connotation and tolerant to the diversity.

After the opening ceremony, the participants went to visit the Original Design Studio, Red Block, etc. In the following two days, there were stages of theme surveys, group discussion, producing of results, communication, to promote communication with perspectiveness and abundant achievements, on the common topic of architecture and urban between China and France. Most of the survey sites for the seminar were located in Chongming Island and Xuhui District, among which the survey routes and themes in Xuhui Districts included:
 -West Coast (Xuhui Riverside) Project
 -Overall Promotion of Xuhui District Area
 -Transformation of Surrounding Area of Shanghai South Railway Station
 -Conservation and Renovation Explore of Historical Cultural Characteristics Area in Hengshan Road / Yongping Li / Yongkang Road
 -Redevelopment of Caohejing Area

To echo the theme ‘Meeting Shanghai Walking Seminar’, all the participants would record what they saw, listened and felt during the walking, in different ways such as photos, short films, sketches, records and articles, tidied and chose after group discussion, and shared the achievements, to provide suggestions for urban sustainable development in Shanghai.