On Oct. 27, the launching ceremony of the 2019 Global Cities Forum and World Cities Day Shanghai Observance was held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The theme of the forum was Changing the World: Innovations and Better Life for Future Generations.

 

The 2019 Global Urban Forum was co-sponsored by Shanghai Municipal People's Government Development Research Center, Shanghai Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Management Committee, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the World Bank. The event was hosted by the China Institute for Urban Governance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the Shanghai World City Day Affairs Coordination Center. The Shanghai Municipal Oceanic Bureau participated as a supporter.

Nearly 400 guests from international organizations and associations—such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Underground Space Joint Research Center—attended the forum, representing nearly 20 countries and regions, such as Singapore, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Brazil, Finland, and Hong Kong.

Tang Zhiping, deputy mayor of Shanghai, delivers a speech on innovation at the 2019 Global Cities Forum.

 

Tang Zhiping, deputy mayor of Shanghai, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech on innovation. He congratulated the forum and emphasized the importance of urban development in the context of globalization and innovation. Tang later spoke on the internal driving forces behind China's urban transformation and highlighted Shanghai’s achievements in construction, innovation, and sustainable development. He challenged attendees to make meaningful connections as Shanghai continues to be built, or transformed, into a remarkable global city.

Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat Victor Kisob spoke to attendees on matters concerning global cooperation.

 

After cordially welcoming attendees, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Victor Kisob, spoke on the important role played by the Global Urban Forum in promoting global cooperation and in sharing the wisdom of urban governance. He went into detail on the connotation of urban governance innovation, emphasizing the importance of making cities more efficient, orderly, and inclusive.

Li Liping, a first-class inspector at the Department of Planning, Finance and Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, speaks to attendees about the benefits of World City Day.

 

Li Liping, a first-class inspector at the Department of Planning, Finance and Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development offered insight on World City Day as the special day relates to the ever-growing city of Shanghai. He also highlighted events—both home and abroad—that have taken place since the establishment of World City Day. Li addressed the challenges brought on by urbanization and noted that the forum provides a solid platform in which people can share experiences while participating in international exchange and cooperation.

Barjor Mehta, the lead urban specialist on the World Bank’s East Asia Urban and Disaster Risk Management team, speaks on the company’s cooperative relationship with China.

 

Barjor Mehta, the lead urban specialist on the World Bank’s East Asia Urban and Disaster Risk Management team, spoke highly in regards to China and its 40 years of “reform and opening up.” Mehta said that the World Bank considers it an honor to work closely with China as they continue to grow. In the future, the World Bank plans on strengthening ties with China, most notably in helping the country’s outstanding global cities as they progress. He also noted that, at present, there are still many challenges in relation to urbanization, which require the joint-efforts of all mankind.

Jiang Sixian, CPC committee secretary, chairman at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and dean of China Institute for Urban Governance, speaks to forum attendees about the meaning of urban transformation.

 

Jiang Sixian, CPC committee secretary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and dean of China Institute for Urban Governance, expressed gratitude to the leaders and guests in attendance. Jiang suggested that urban transformation can be defined as the modernization of urban governance, adding that innovation and development are the only pathways to urban transformation. To effectively innovate and develop, he argued that we must deeply understand "four innovations,” with one being to continuously practice new development concepts such as coordinating and sharing; two is to actively open up to the outside world in a collaborative sense; three is to continuously promote two-way integration with science and technology at the forefront of that transformation; and four is to continuously promote the application of new technology, which will—in turn—make cities more accessible, residents more sensational.

Zhang Zheng, vice director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, addresses attendees at the 2019 GCF in Shanghai, China.

 

At this year’s forum, Zhang Zheng, vice director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, unveiled the 2019 version of the Shanghai Manual, a resource on sustainable urban development in the city. Supported by the United Nations, the International Exhibition Bureau, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China, and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the guide promotes global urbanization and sustainable development, while also serving as a “living document.” The Shanghai Manual is constantly being updated over time in order to remain relevant, the UN notes on its sustainability website.

 

The 2019 edition of the Shanghai Manual is based on the theme of "City Innovation, Beautiful Homeland.” The cases within the manual are specific and representative, covering countries and cities in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. The guide takes location into account and has practical significance for cities at different stages of development.

The 2019 forum also highlighted the release of “Selected Speeches of 2018 World Cities Day Events” (Chinese and English versions). According to the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li Qiang, the branding process of the book didn’t come without its challenges. “It should be carefully planned, have long-term merit, and make a greater influence,” Li said. Under the guidance of UN-Habitat and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, "Selected Speeches”—edited and published by the Shanghai Science and Technology Press—aims to offer insight, to tell the story of China, and to further develop the brand effect of World City Day.

 

“Selected Speeches” is composed of two major parts: the leader address and the expert speech. It includes 40 manuscripts, which are divided into six chapters and 200,000 characters. The book covers topics such as urban agglomeration, smart city, urban space, waterfront city, eco-city and humanistic city.

 

Qianwei Liu, general engineering of Shanghai Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Governance Committee, and Cheng Zhou, vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, witnessed the launching ceremony.

UN-Habitat and Associated Research Centers for the Urban Underground Space signed a memorandum of cooperation at the opening ceremony. UN-Habitat Representative Victor Kisob signed a contract with Jacques Besner on behalf of the International Underground Space Joint Research Center.

 

Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Singapore Centre for Livable Cities Limited, signed a memorandum of cooperation at the opening ceremony of the forum. Liu Qianwei, representative of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Michael Koh, representative of Singapore Centre for Livable Cities Limited, signed a contract. Zhang Zheng, vice director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and You Shanbei, deputy director of the Singapore Enterprise Development Bureau, witnessed the signing ceremony.

At the end of the opening ceremony, the launching ceremony of “2019 World City Day Shanghai Observance” was held. Vice Mayor Tang Zhiping, Secretary Jiang Sixian, Assistant Secretary-General Victor Kisob, Deputy Secretary-General Huang Rong, Deputy Director You Shanbei, Inspector Li Liping, and Vice Director Zhang Zheng jointly launched the event.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Huang Rong, vice secretary-general of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.

 

The keynote speech session was divided into two phases. The first phase was led by Zhou Cheng, vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Michael Koh, executive fellow of Center for Livable Cities in Singapore, Janet Benini, former director for Response and Planning in the White House, and Youngsam Choi, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, gave speeches on topics such as sustainability, crises and disaster management, Korean city trends, and co-op programs in China.

The second phase was led by Wu Jiannan, executive vice director of China Institute for Urban Governance and the head of the Division of Liberal Arts and Social Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Zhu Dajian, the lead scientist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s China Institute for Urban Governance and the director of Tongji University’s Research Center of Sustainable Development and Governance, Chen Haibo, Chairman of DeepBlue Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, and Yōichi Masuzoe, former Japanese Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare, gave speeches on topics such as urban green development in China, the “Industry 4.0,” urban development, and technology as it “makes city life easier.”

 

In the afternoon, the sub-forum focused on the theme of "Changing the World: Innovations and Better Life for Future Generations" and was divided into the following four sessions: 

Global Cities · Collaborative Governance

Global Ocean · Central City

Global City · Regional Planning

City Innovation · Practice of Think Tank

During this time, speakers highlighted three key issues: housing, environment, and transportation. These topics were based on urban governance practices in three continents and three regions (Greater London of Europe, Greater Sydney of Australia, and the Yangtze River Delta region of Asia). The forum also centered on three major synergies: regional synergy, multi-agent synergy, and intergovernmental collaboration. The “Global City · Collaborative Governance" sub-forum specifically highlighted urban planning, as well as construction and management, and it brought issues related to collaborative governance, institutional barriers, and practical experience, to light.

 

The forum continued with in-depth discussions on the theoretical and international practice levels.

Shanghai, one of the global, future-forward cities heavily promoted in “The 13th Five-Year Plan for National Marine Economic Development,” plays an important role in promoting the Yangtze River Delta and in promoting the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. The "Global Ocean · Central City" forum continued with in-depth discussions on various topics, such as Shanghai's urban innovation and development, global marine resource allocation, scientific and technological innovation, ecological demonstration, cultural exchange, transaction governance, high-quality integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the strategy of maritime power.

  

In the "Global City · Regional Planning" sub-forum, senior experts and scholars from China, the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Belgium, and other countries, conducted in-depth academic exchanges and had prolific discussions on topics in the current regional planning field, such as how to strengthen regional planning research, how to improve regional planning, how to lead, deploy and promote regional development through regional planning, and how to improve the level of regional coordinated development. They further explored the ways in which one could achieve a better combination of regional planning and collaborative governance.

In the "City Innovation · Practice of Think Tank" sub-forum, leaders focused on the management and construction of think tanks, as well as practices in relation to university think tanks and urban governance. They also discussed the starting of new think tanks that contain Chinese characteristics.

 

World-renowned experts from national think tank research and evaluation institutions, as well as leaders of Shanghai Municipal Commissions, experts in urban governance and heads of think tank management departments from Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, the University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Zhongshan University, Tongji University, and East China Normal University, conducted in-depth discussions and dialogues within the forum. 

 

The group focused on urban innovation and high-quality development, diving into the institutional mechanisms of university think tanks, and speaking on the role of the university think tank in modernizing the national governance system and governance capacity.

 

The Global Cities Forum also held a themed forum with relatively independent issues and flexible meeting dates to provide attendees with a more enriched experience and to allow for more in-depth discussions. 

 

The themed forum, "Changing the World: Innovations and Better Life for Future Generations,” was divided into the following four sessions: 

Global Cities · Shanghai-Singapore Dialogue

Global Cities · Green Ecology

Highway-Bridge-Tunnel · Innovation 

Development and Global Cities · Underground Space

The "Global Cities · Shanghai-Singapore Dialogue" forum was moderated by key officials from the urban construction and management departments of Shanghai and Singapore. The forum focused on various aspects of housing security and urban management, including refined and intelligent urban management, urban housing security systems and practices, community renewal, and housing quality. The dialogue centered on the differences and commonalities between Shanghai and Singapore in urban governance.

 

With the theme of "Bringing Nature into the City,” the "Global Cities · Green Ecology" forum, allowed experts and scholars from China, France, Britain, London, Singapore, and Finland to exchange “the green vision,” while discussing strategic planning and ecological construction in each of their major cities.Participants were granted the opportunity to visit the site of the green eco-city model in Shanghai.

 

The “Highway-Bridge-Tunnel · Innovation and Development" forum invited well-known experts and scholars to highlight the achievements and discuss future strategies and developmental plans for the Shanghai Post Tunnel of the “Post Expo.” The forum centered on typical cases of innovation and development of Shanghai highway tunnels, and it offered attendees historical and futuristic perspectives.

 

The "Global Cities · Underground Space" forum was held from Oct. 28-29. The forum brought together respectable experts and scholars in the field of underground space development at home and abroad. The forum additionally kicked off a new initiative titled, “One Belt and One Road” for the development and utilization of underground space in the future. It advocated for the sharing of successful experiences in the development of urban underground space while promoting the deepening of urban underground space development research concerning four strategic goals: urban inclusiveness, security, resilience, and sustainability.

 

The award ceremony for the 5th College Student Case Study Competition of Urban Governance was held during the closing ceremony on the afternoon of Oct. 27.

After intense preliminary competitions and rematches, 6 of the 104 teams from 60 universities across the country entered the finals. In the final, the six teams underwent case analysis, judges' defense, and audience inquiry. In the end, after the jury discussion and public vote, Shanghai Jiao Tong University team B, Chongqing University team A, and Shandong University won the team champion, runner-up and third runner-up respectively. Zhou Cheng, vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, presented the award to the winning team.

Cheng gave closing remarks and congratulated leaders on the success of the forum. He expressed gratitude toward the guests who brought much insight to the 2019 GCF. Cheng hopes that, in the future, everyone continues to use this platform in the future to spread knowledge and wisdom on urban governance on a global scale.