"Energy saving" is the urbanization platform on which China
should build upon while the traditional "industrialization-based
mode" should be abandoned, experts agreed at a forum in Beijing on
Sunday.
"As Silicon Valley is famous for its leading role in
technological innovation and London is well known for financial
services, city planners should tailor the right way for a city to
build up its identity," said Vincent H S Lo, chairman and chief
executive officer of Shui On Land Limited in Hong Kong, at the
two-day 'China's 21st Century Urbanization Strategy Forum' which
ended on Sunday.
While discussing China's urbanization, experts from home and
abroad agreed that the country should follow a strategy based on an
area' local characteristics and avoiding imitations of other world
cities. .
"As the need for energy supplies has intensified in recent years
the traditional methods for city development are quite
impractical," said Seok Chui Kim, a renowned city planner from the
Republic of Korea.?
Many Chinese cities boasted rich history and culture--something
which could be taken advantage of through the development of
tourism and which could be anchored to a growing interest in
culture, he suggested.
It’s estimated that in the next few decades China's urbanization
process will transfer may millions of people from villages to
cities thus causing significant changes to China's social
structure..
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2006)