Kunming Training and Research Programme "Environment"

Funded by

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC

Partners

Kunming Urban Planning Authority, KUPA
Kunming Urban Planning and Design Institute, KUPDI
Yunnan Province Construction Department
State Ministry of Construction, MoC

Duration

2007-2009

Summary

Since 1996, LEP/IRL has worked on assignment of SDC. This Training and Research Project, which essentially deals with regional and environmental planning (TRP–E), was initiated in the framework of the Kunming - Zurich city partnership („Kunming Urban Development and Public Transportation Masterplan“, Phases I-V), to assist Kunming municipal and Yunnan provincial (China) government officials undertake strategic planning on a scientific basis and implement sustainability oriented projects. Likewise, a collaboration established in 1998 with the Beijing-based Chinese Ministry of Construction (MoC) facilitates conferences and workshops, addressing in detail core aspects of future spatial development and widely promoting solutions across China. In 2002, the Shaxi Rehabilitation Project (SRP) was initiated in a marginalized, rural region in complement to the existing concentrated urban development approaches.
For a next and final phase VI, LEP/IRL will continue the cooperation program with MoC, including networking and dissemination activities. LEP/IRL has also been invited by Kunming and Yunnan planning authorities to collaborate on comprehensive regional development planning for Yunnan Province in the next years. This opportunity will be used to develop a comprehensive urban and rural development strategy. This strategy places the pilot projects (urban Kunming, rural Shaxi, overall Yunnan) into a super-ordinate context, significantly raising their value in terms of an effective dissemination. Moreover, LEP/IRL’s work as a whole assumes additional significance given that (a) China’s 23 provinces and 5 autonomous regions often fail to adhere to a comprehensive strategy, (b) there are many middle-sized dynamically growing metropolitan regions like Kunming, which all face similar problems, and (c) countless areas like Shaxi, which are being marginalized all possess an equivalent potential, especially those lying at the threshold of the Himalayas. Notably, LEP/IRL’s work suggests a comprehensive development model, which features positive examples of how development could occur more effectively and in a more sustainable manner in the connected urban and rural context.
Thus, the existing potential shall be capitalized on in phase VI in terms of a broader sustainable development. The project will be backed with expert supervision and logistical support. The knowledge gained will be disseminated at the national level.

Team

Diego Salmerón, Suman Rana