The 5th international workshop of Tongji-ADB Knowledge Hub was held at College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University on 13th November 2014. Professor WU Jiang, vice president of Tongji University, Mr. Hamid Sharif, Country Director of ADB People’s Republic of China Resident Mission, and Prof. LI Zhenyu, Dean of CAUP delivered welcoming speech on the behalf of the organizers.

The Urban Knowledge Hub, established in March 2010, was aimed at disseminating best practices in sustainable urban development of China. From 2010 to 2013, four events were successfully held under the themes of “Sharing Best Practices in Sustainable Development in Asian-Pacific Region”, “Preservation and Development of Historic Water Towns—from the Perspective of Social Inclusiveness”, “Urban Transformation: Planning and Financing” and “New Towns and New Districts in China – Challenges and Opportunities”. Given that the socio-economic disparity between urban and rural areas is one of the critical challenges in Chia, the topic of this year’s workshop was defined as “Balancing and Integrating Urban-Rural Development in the PRC”. The workshop mainly focused on three cases which are among the best practices of China’s integrated development: “Village Environment Improvement and Revitalization Program in Jiangsu Province”, “Urban-Rural Integration Program of Chengdu in Sichuan Province” and “Tengtou Village Comprehensive Development Project, Ningbo City in Zhejiang Province”. Participants together discussed on the projects’ planning and implementation process. Mr. WANG Jianye, Mayor of Yaxi Town, Gaochun District in Nanjing, Mr. ZHANG Jia, Deputy Director of Chengdu Planning and Administration Bureau in Sichuan Province and Ms. ZENG Jiuli, Director of Chengdu Institute of Planning and Design took active part in the discussion and were granted the Best Practices Awards. Moreover, international experts also share lessons and experience of ADB South Asian Pilot Program to better serve the development of China’s future urban-rural integration.

Experts from both Asian Development Bank and Tongji University attended the workshop and participated in the panel discussion, including: Dr. ZHOU Lan, Director of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-rural Development; Prof. TANG Zilai, Prof. YANG Guiqin, Prof. WANG Weiqiang and Prof. WANG Lan from CAUP-Tongji University; Dr. ZHU Dongfeng, Director of Urban Development Research Institute, Jiangsu Province; Prof. YE Yuming, Chief Specialist of Public Policy Platform of Urban-Rural Collaboration and Innovation Center-Renmin University of China; Mr. ZHAO Guoyu, Director of Department of Planning Research-Ningbo Urban Planning and Design Institute; Dr. Rupert Kawka of Federal Institute for Building and Regional Planning, Germany; Dr. Debjani Gosh, Team Leader of ADB South Asia Urban Knowledge Hub; Mr. Kirtee Shah, President of India Habitat Forum; Prof. P.K.S. Mahanama, Sri Lanka Urban Knowledge Hub as part of SAUKH; Dr. Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh Urban Knowledge Hub as part of SAUKH; Mr. Edgar Cua, Senior Advisor of EARD, ADB. More than 80 local officials for ADB China Programs also attended the workshop.