The city of Guangzhou holds a workshop themed on "Urban Innovation in Implementation of the Global Agendas" on Feb 9 during the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9) was held on Feb 7-13 in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. During the event, the city of Guangzhou led a workshop themed on "Urban Innovation in Implementation of the Global Agendas" on Feb 9. 

The Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, World Association of Major Metropolises, Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences and Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Research Center jointly held the workshop which focused on the important role of urban innovation in implementing such global agendas as Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. 

Mr. Liu Baochun, Director General of the Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, and Mr. Octavi de la Varga, Secretary General of METROPOLIS, delivered remarks at the workshop and launched the online publication of Urban Innovation and the online registration system of the fourth Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award). 

More than 100 representatives from government, academia, professionals and international organizations engaged in the event. 

Among them were Dr. Eugenie Birch, President of the General Assembly of Partners, Mr. Li Zhijian, President of the Asia-Pacific Innovation Economic Research Institute, Mr. Sithole Mbanga, Chief Executive Officer of the South African Cities Network, Mr. Jose Carrera, Corporate Vice President of Social Development and Environment at CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, Mr. Rene Lindsay, Special Advisor of Cloud Burst Management in the City of Copenhagen, Denmark (Winning City of the Guangzhou Award 2016), Prof. Yao Yi, Deputy Director of International Affairs Institute at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, and Ms. Silvia Tamayo, Director of Happiness and Integral Citizenship Education in La Paz municipality, Bolivia (Winning City of the Guangzhou Award 2016). 

With the theme "Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda", the WUF9 focused on setting out a common vision and global standards for urban development in the coming decades and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), a document adopted in October 2016 at Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development that took place in Quito, Ecuador.