The Second International Conference on China’s Urban Transition and City Planning

Cardiff (Wales)
Following the successful first conference in 2007, the School of City and RegionalPlanning will organize the 2nd International Conference on China’s Urban Transition andCity Planning. The conference is sponsored by the Economic Social and Research Council(ESRC) and UK Department for International Development (DFID) and supported byresearch partner institutions. The first conference was well received and results in a seriesof journal special issues in International Urban and Regional Research, Town PlanningReview, The Built Environment, and Urban Design International. The world has becomequite different since the global financial crisis in 2008. China is becoming a major focus ofglobal economic and environment changes.

In the post-crisis era, China continues to face the challenges from rural to urban migration,economic restructuring and urban redevelopment. Tremendous social and economicchanges have triggered the transformation of urban space in China. Now Chinese cities arecharacterized by distinctive and contrasting spaces such as migrant villages and suburbangated communities. Chinese cities provide an interesting case for understandingcontemporary urban restructuring in the world. This conference will provide an opportunityfor researchers in urban studies, geography, sociology, political sciences, and city planningas well as China studies to explore multi-facets of China’s urban transition and the policyimplications for city planning and development.

Conference themes
We invite papers on any of the following themes and also welcome proposals for additionalthemes to be incorporated into the final program. Initial themes include:· · Urbanization, rural to urban migration, migrants, migrant enclaves, and urban-ruraldivision
· Urban redevelopment, relocation and demolition, demolition and redevelopment ofchengzhongcun (urban villages)
· Land and housing development
· Urban social and spatial inequalities
· Urban economic restructuring, innovation, research and development
· sustainable places and eco-city formation
· Mega-city region and regional, urban and local (community) governance
· City planning and policies

Format
A 300 words abstract in English, including the title, the name(s) of author(s), affiliation,contact address, telephone and email address, should be sent to Fangzhu Zhang(zhangf4@cardiff.ac.uk) with the subject line of ‘Urban China Conference’ by the deadlineof abstract submission.
Plenary speeches followed by parallel sessions respectively in English and Chinese.
Post-conference field visits to the Cardiff Bay regeneration project and Welsh LifeMuseum.