Guangzhou delegation with Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Secretary General Steven Ma

Guangzhou delegation have a walking tour with representatives of “Christchurch: Our Ever Evolving City” initiative.

From July 15 to 18, a three-member Guangzhou delegation led by Mr. Liang Guiquan, President of Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation (GIUI) visited Christchurch, New Zealand to conduct a field study on the “Christchurch: Our Ever Evolving City” initiative, which stood out among 209 submissions and ensured the city become one of the five winning cities of the 2014 Guangzhou Award.

The delegation had a walking tour to Christchurch downtown and paid special attention to the CBD which was nearly ruined in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and is the pilot site of the transitional project that is being carried out.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel warmly welcomed the arrival of the Guangzhou delegation and expressed her best wishes to the Guangzhou Award. The delegation respectively met with Councilor Jimmy Chen, Consul General Jin Zhijian and Vice Consul General of the Consulate General of China in Christchurch Li Xin and Secretary General of New Zealand Guangdong General Association of Commerce Inc Steven Ma. to get to know the post-disaster reconstruction process and establish the overall situation of Christchurch.

On July 17, the city of Christchurch, the Guangzhou Award Secretariat and GIUI co-hosted the Participative Planning Workshop. Councilor Paul Lonsdale, Urban Design and Regeneration Unit Manager Carolyn Ingles, Senior Urban Remigration Advisor Laura Taylor, Representatives from Gap Filler and Greening the Rubble and the Guangzhou delegation attended the workshop.

Representatives from the city of Christchurch introduced the experiences summarized from participative planning during the post-disaster reconstruction process and had in-depth discussions with the Guangzhou delegation on similarities and differences between both cities around the theme. Both sides also shared their viewpoints on planning participative futures.

On behalf of the city of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou delegation officially invited the city of Christchurch to attend the Workshop for Thought Leaders: Learning from Urban Innovation which to be held in early November in Guangzhou this year.