TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA - Transition towards urban sustainability through socially integrative cities in the EU and in China

TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA addresses a key challenge of Chinese urbanisation: how to best design and turn cities into intelligent, socially integrative and sustainable environments. Guided by the 13th Five-Year Plan and the National New Urbanisation Plan, China wants to improve urban planning, development, and management to provide better living environments. The key objective of TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA is to help policy makers, urban authorities, real estate developers, public service providers and citizens in China to create socially integrative cities in an environmentally friendly and financially viable way. The project focuses on: (a) community building and place-making in neighbourhoods; (b) bridging the planning-implementation gap in eco and smart cities; (c) land use planning and land management in new urban expansion and urban renewal areas; and (d) transition pathways to sustainable urban planning and governance. With 8 European and 6 Chinese expert organisations, the project will create new insights, practices and role models in sustainable urban transitions in China. It will (a) develop a systematic knowledge base on transition experiences in Europe and China; (b) advance tools and measures to support transition, and test them in 2 Living Labs in Chinese cities; and (c) elaborate related recommendations, discuss them with representatives of 60 Reference Cities and a wider stakeholder community, and disseminate them through a variety of channels. The Chinese team of partners from government agencies and academia will exert a direct impact on society through their national responsibilities. The European partners will play a similar role as regards lessons for Europe. The External Advisory Board will secure a global reach. Living Labs and Reference Cities from Europe and China will ensure the solidity and the relevance of outcomes. This combination of partners will provide a valuable contribution to an improved EU-China reciprocal knowledge on urbanisation processes