The Fifth International Garden City Contest, dubbed the "Green Oscar," is to be held from November 29 to December 3 in South China's Shenzhen.
Organized by the British-based International Federation of Park and Recreation Administration and hosted by the local government, the annual event, the first of its kind held in China, aims to enhance environmental management, promote exemplary city planning and improve people's living conditions.
The contest will inspect five environmental management aspects such as beautification of the landscape, heritage management, environment protection, community involvement and landscape planning.
It divides the contestants into five groups according to their populations and awards them respectively.
Applications are open globally and the contest is expected to attract more than 40 cities and 200 representatives around the world. Last year, 43 cities in 23 countries took part in the competition.
Shenzhen, a vigorous city only 20 years old, won the first prize among large cities with populations over 1 million.
It is the first Chinese city to earn such an honour.
"The achievement of a garden city significantly promotes Shenzhen, China's leading special economic zone, to the world and attracts foreign investment that favours desirable surroundings," said Wu Zijun, head of the city management office.
About 85 of the world's top 500 transnational companies have invested in 120 projects in the city so far.
"Since investors will no longer receive any special treatment here, the efficient and enjoyable environment is extremely important for them," Wu noted.
Shenzhen has exerted strenuous efforts to build a picturesque city since its establishment.
It now takes a lead in afforestation construction in the country, boasting such accomplishments as per capita green belt areas of 14 square metres and 37 parks covering 3,175 hectares.
Wu said no less than 6 billion yuan (US$723 million) will be expended to further beautify the city in the next five years.
A batch of rules on city management will be revised to meet international standards and high technology will also be applied in areas like planning, plantation and supervision.
(China Daily 07/09/2001)
