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The Cities Alliance is pleased to present a profile
of a City in Action. This shows Alliance members and
partners working together to improve the lives of
the urban poor, and promoting a coherent effort of
all city stakeholders to ensure sustainable urban
development.
The city of
Yangzhou, located in the central part of Jiangsu
Province, north of the Yangtze River, 100 km
northeast of Nanjing, and 300 km northwest of
Shanghai is the pilot for the implementation of the
Eco City
Planning and Management Programme, a Sino-German |
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cooperation designed to achieve
sustainable
development through creative and inventive use and
management of local resources. Implemented by the
municipal governments of Yangzhou and
Changzhou,
and the German Development Cooperation (Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit -
GTZ) on behalf of
the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ),
the
Sustainable Urban Conservation of the Old City of
Yangzhou, aims to transform the city into an Eco
City (link), to enable it to achieve sustainable
urban development through the efficient utilisation
and management of local resources, ecologically
sound institutions and enhancing people’s attitude
towards the environment.
Although this is still
work in progress, the results so far include:
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In August 2003
Yangzhou’s Eco City Masterplan was the first of
its kind to be approved by SEPA (China’s
Environmental Protection Agency). Since
implementation, total public green space has
expanded in Yangzhou by 26 percent.
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Parts of the old
city centre in Yangzhou have been saved from
demolition (for road construction). Instead, a
high-level steering group has been established,
advocating a cautious approach to urban renewal.
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A co-financing
arrangement with the Cities Alliance is enabling
the Eco City programme to support Yangzhou’s
entire historical centre in a comprehensive
development strategy.
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In October 2006,
the city won UN-Habitat’s Scroll of Honour Award
for its achievements.
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The Eco City
programme supports clean industrial production.
20 regional companies have so far introduced
environmental management measures. Local
authorities have audited the environmental
standards of dozens of enterprises.
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Numerous municipal
governments are sending delegates to Yangzhou to
learn about Eco Cities.
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The programme’s
conference on ecological urban development
attracted 250 participants from 40 cities.
Visit the
Sustainable Urban Conservation of the Old City
Yangzhou site to see the implementation of
this programme in Yangzhou, how the city’s
residents, involved from the outset in the planning,
financing and implementation of the programme are
benefitting as the Old City is upgraded, the city’s
tourism potential is boosted and its local economy
enhanced.
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