During the 6th UCLG ASPAC Congress in Jeollabuk-do South Korea, the discussions focused on New Urban Agenda, NUA-HIII. The congress, titled “Region, Life and Culture in the New Urban Agenda”, was an opportunity for local governments and city leaders from ASPAC region to discuss the draft NUA-HIII papers in details and develop a strategy for implementing the forthcoming recommendations of NUA-HIII and 2030 SDGs at local government levels. This event was seen as one of the last discussion platforms for local government leaders from ASPAC to discuss the NUA-HIII in detail before 2016 Quito summit. Over 1500 delegates from 60 international cities attended the ASPAC congress in Jeollabuk-do. 

The city of Guangzhou, in conjunction with CPAFFC, Metropolis and UCLG hosted an important session on “Regional Sustainable Development and Urban Innovation”. The session included local government leaders, city managers, urban planners and senior advisors. The panellists introduced methods and case studies with compelling evidences that Urban Innovation is the most important multi-sectorial tool to address the current and future urban challenges. The session concluded with a strong support for integrating urban growth management and innovation, which is driven by local demand and managed and led by local governments. The panel endorsed the framework of Guangzhou’s leading Urban Innovation to be a collective and collaborative platform for cities to engage towards reaching the objectives of NUA-HIII and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Goals. 

The session was opened by Deputy Secretary General of the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, Mr. Diao Ailin, where he affirmed Guangzhou’s commitment and vision to lead the Urban Innovation initiatives in assisting developing cities through collaboration and assistance. He extended the invitation for cities to visit Guangzhou and participate during the third Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference  inDecember, 2016. The session was attended by Mr. Ma Manhe, Deputy Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office. The panellist included Mr. Kumara Dhammika, senior municipal councillor, Galle Sri Lanka, Mr. Bulent Polat, assistant director of social welfare affairs, Cankaya Turkey, Mr. Zhou Min, chief planner, Guangzhou urban planning and design survey research institute and Mr. Sunil Dubey, senior advisor Metropolis. The session was moderated by Mr. Peter Woods.