News

China-related Programs in San Antonio National Planning Conference
This year, the APA National Planning Conference offer many opportunities for you to learn about planning and design in China. The APA China Program invites you to:

• Meet dignitaries from Chinese Planning Associations
• Networking with 40 Chinese developers
• Learn about U.S. Department of Commerce and APA Assistance for firms to work in China
• Get familiar with sustainability issues in the context of Chinese urbanization and industrialization

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APA Executive Director Addresses China Audiences

APA Executive Director and CEO Paul Farmer, FAICP, spent a week in China in September 2006 where he presented an address on planning to the Mayor of Kunming and participated in a roundtable at a meeting of the Urban Planning Society of China.

During visits to Kunming and Guangzhou, Farmer introduced American planning success stories and past mistakes to colleagues in China. The educational efforts were welcomed by officials and professionals who face tremendous challenges in current urbanization, industrialization, and automation in Chinese cities.

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APA and U.S. Department of Commerce to Promote American Planning Service in China
In the Fall of 2005, the U.S. Department of Commerce accepted APA's application to develop marketing, promotion and technical assistance to U.S. planning and design firms wishing to work in Chinese market during the next three years. This is the result of a long term effort by APA, working with the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to promote the use of American design, planning and engineering services in the fast growing China market.

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Memorandum of Understanding Signed
More than 6,000 people participated in APA's 2005 National Planning Conference in San Francisco. Events, sessions, and programs related to planning in China were well attended and sparked tremendous interests and discussion. Mr. Shan Jixiang, Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) of the People's Republic of China, delivered a keynote speech at the conference, received the first APA International Leadership Award, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with APA. SACH is the ministerial level national agency for historic and cultural preservation in China.

Former U.S. Ambassador to China Gives Keynote Speech
More than 100 Chinese mayors, planners, and American officials convened in Washington, D.C., on August 22, 2005, to learn about current U.S.-China relationship and the importance of economic cooperation. APA's China Program hosted the keynote speech by former U.S. Ambassador, the Hon. James. R. Lilley. Dignitaries attending this keynote speech and networking banquet including: Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams, Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Zhen Zeguang, 53 Chinese mayors from Chongqing and Jiangsu Province, 12 senior Chinese planners, officials from World Bank, the U.S. Commerce Department and Agriculture Department, and 40-plus American planners and designers.

APA's Policy Director's Article Published in Newspaper
Jeff Soule, APA Policy Director, Jeff Soule, AICP, APA Policy Director of APA, sparked discussion in China with an article that appeared in both English (China Daily) and Chinese (Xinhua Net). The article, "Beijing's urban form should reflect its history," discusses Soule's "personal and professional concern for the urban legacy being created for the next generation of Chinese."

World Planners Congress and World Urban Forum 2006
The World Planners Congress and World Urban Forum 2006 were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, in June 2006. APA's China Program has been actively engaged in inviting Chinese officials and planners to participate in these important conferences.

APA President and Executive Director Complete Historic Visit to China
APA President Mary Kay Peck, AICP, and Executive Director Paul Farmer, AICP, recently finished a visit to China that included city tours, major speeches, agreements with Chinese associations, and the opening of an APA training center that is available to APA members.

APA Leads Efforts to Open Chinese Market to Foreign Planners
APA has been leading an effort to lobby China's Ministry of Construction to clarify new rules covering foreign professional planners working in China.

APA Report to the China Center on Land Reclamation and Consolidation
In July 2003, a team of experts visited the watersheds and surrounding countryside in southwestern Qing Hai Province in China. The purpose of the visit was to evaluate the issues and challenges faced by the province, the localities, and the national government and to make some preliminary observations and recommendations. The team was asked to look most specifically at land use and planning issues that would lead to a more sustainable environment and protecting the land for productive use over time. China faces difficult challenges with balancing cultural conservation, economic development, and environmental conservation. Nevertheless, there are some immediate modest actions that can be taken to stop the trend of environmental degradation while longer-term measures are developed and tested.

Jeff Soule's Speech at Nanjing Heritage Conference
All other ancient Chinese capital cities have lost their identities by erasing their city elements: city walls, street systems, or both. Nanjing is the only city that still has both the city wall and the street system from the three major periods in its history. It is critical and not too late for Nanjing to develop a comprehensive short and long-term strategic plan for citywide historic preservation that includes the historic city and the surrounding historical areas. However, if immediate action is not taken, Nanjing and its unique character will, like other ancient Chinese cities, be submerged in superblocks, overbuilt highways, and skyscrapers.

APA and United Nations Development Programme
For 10 days in May 2004, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) advisers Jeffrey Soule and Liu Yuan accompanied officials and staff representing the Center for Land Consolidation and Reclamation to view four demonstration project sites. The team listened to local officials and citizens, made field visits to the sites, and provided feedback and comments to local representatives. The following is a detailed report of this visit, the third mission this team has undertaken on behalf of the center and UNDP.

APA and World Bank Institute Program for Chinese Officials
The course was jointly developed by the World Bank, the China National School of Administration, and the China Ministry of Construction in collaboration with the American Planning Association. It is an in-depth course complementing the Sustainable Urban Development and Management DL course developed in 2001 in response to requests for urban planning training in China. Part of the course materials can be used in other countries.

APA Policy Director Jeffrey Soule Interviews Jiangsu Party Secretary
Jiangsu Party Secretary Li Yuanchao shared his views on current and future city planning in Nanjing and Jiangsu province with APA Policy Director Jeffrey Soule in 2003. The World Bank Institute published this interview in the November 2004 issue of Development Outreach.

APA at the Nanjing International Fair
APA participated in the "International New Products and Service Exhibition of China (Nanjing)," organized by the Nanjing Government April 6-9, 2004. Within four days, there were nearly 1 million participants from all over China, especially industrial and commercial enterprises from the Yangtze River Delta. Central government officials and Jiangsu provincial officials attended the exhibitions. Government officials such as Jiangsu Party Secretary Li Yuanchao and Nanjing Party Secretary Luo Zhijun visited APA's booth and talked with APA representatives.