Sunday, June 19, 2011

Planning in China

Hi folks, Andy here.

As I finish up my obligations stateside - Bike Prom last night, for instance - I've been poking around the internet for something to put Chinese urbanization and planning into context. In addition to the netflix-able documentaries Up the Yangtze (mentioned earlier), Wild China, and Last Train Home (about migrant workers traveling back home for Chinese New Year), I stumbled upon the International Association of China Planning.

Located in Washington, D.C., the IACP seeks to bridge planning research and practice in the People's Republic and internationally. This has worldwide import, they say, because China may already have more urban planners than the United States and EU combined (roughly 65,000 in 2004). They have prepared literature reviews for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development about sustainable development, urban design, and housing policy that I thought were worth a quick read. But the really interesting bit was the "Chinese Planner's Guide to Western Urban Planning Literature," which offers the Western reader both a Planning 101 refresher and some insight into the shifting role of planners as China moves toward a more market-oriented economy.
Check it out: http://www.chinaplanning.org/publication.htm

I also wanted to report that I have learned to count to ninety-nine! In theory, anyway. I haven't actually tried.

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