Annul urban forum led by Dr.Shan was held in Fudan University

From March 13 to March 23, 2009, Dr. Wenhui Shan collaborated with urban planning experts of Fudan university’s Nordic Center and KTH to host a forum on sustainable urban development. This event was strongly supported by the Baoshan Urban Planning Bureau.

The forum is an essential part of an annual course on urbanism where students from high ranking Chinese and Swedish universities have the opportunity to collaborate and engage in fieldwork on specific cases of urban development. Discussion topics run the gamut of sustainability in architecture and urban design. The goal is to further academic research on urban morphology and increase awareness on the process of urban structural upgrading.

This year, Luodian was selected as the research site for the forum. Luodian is located in the Baoshan District of Shanghai. Its current urban situation is such that the town is spatially divided into an old historical district and an emerging Nordic town. Our students are interested in exploring ways in which to increase the lines of communication between the old and emerging corners of Luodian. They have closely examined the public transportation system in Luodian and found ways in which this system can be fully utilized to serve the existing population and attract new urban residents. The forum seeks to combine theoretical findings with the practice of urban planning in order to improve the development of case study areas.

The forum has invited Dr. Wenhui Shan, Professor Lars Orrskog, Dr. Goran Cars and Dr. Ebba of KTH to discuss strategies of sustainable development. Under their guidance, the students have gained a better understanding of Luodian’s urban fabric, regional economics, population demographics and cultural history. With this as the foundation for research, students have analyzes the challenges and opportunities posed by Luodian, interviewed residents to gain perspective on the redesign of the area, and proposed new ideas for urban redevelopment to senior officials of the Baoshan Urban Planning Bureau at a concluding gala. This event has facilitated the knowledge exchange and collaboration between experts and provided government officials with a better understanding on how to proceed with Luodian’s redevelopment.