AGS future cities: Guangzhou - A partnership for sustainable urban development

Abstract

In the context of the "Alliance for Global Sustainability" (AGS) - a research partnership between ETH Zurich, MIT in Boston and the University of Tokyo - a cooperative project with the city of Guangzhou in South China was established in the year 2000. Its goal is to support the city of Guangzhou in addressing problems of sustainable development related to transportation, housing, and water and land-use management. Following an initial phase of exploring mutual interests between research teams and Guangzhou municipal policy makers, three subprojects were identified: (i) urban transportation systems and policies, (ii) water resource management, and (iii) improvement of the residential environment of Zhu Village as a model for urban renewal. The article describes the rapidly changing planning context and highlights progress and findings from the three subprojects.