Sustainable cities & communities guidelines set to launch in Beijing

A draft framework for guidelines for sustainable cities and communities will be released at an international forum, which will be held on July 13 in Beijing, as the first-ever standard to guide the construction of sustainable communities in developing countries.

“Sustainable Urban Development and Livable Garden Community & Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities China Programme (SUC)” was officially co-launched by UNEP and JCEP in January 2015 in Beijing.

The International Forum on Sustainable Cities and Communities & SUC Press Conference will invite over 300 domestic and international officials, experts and NGO workers to discuss the future model of livable and sustainable cities as well as communities.

“Sustainable Urban Development and Livable Garden Community & Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities China Programme (SUC)” was officially co-launched by UNEP and Jia Cui (China) Environmental Promotive Center (JCEP) in January 2015, as the UNEP’s promotional center for Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC) and Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (SBCI) in China.

The three-year project aims to develop a set of guiding principles for sustainable cities and communities in China and will be pilot-tested in three Chinese cities and three Chinese communities. Then it will select more samples in developing countries in Asian-Pacific regions and later in the globe, such as India and Brazil, to set an affordable and applicable model for the developing countries to realize green transformation at local level.

Also, this project has a Paris-based, panel of international experts to offer consultations in helping developing countries improve energy efficiency, promoting sustainable building and lifestyles as well as social mobilization in sustainable community construction.

Additionally, a SUC sustainable union will be initiated in the forum to integrate resources and organizations to promote the concept of sustainable development and establish an international cooperation platform.

It’s the first UNEP project launched in China and will demonstrate actions of the actual effects and pilot projects in sustainable development in global developing countries. The UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, personally participated in the SUC project proposal in Nairobi in 2009 and feels confident about project outcomes.

JCEP CEO, Mr. Li Xiang, said the widest public participation is introduced in the drawing process of this guideline. “People orientation should be the core concept to construct sustainable cities and communities. Besides the participations of dozens of firms and organizations in real estate, environmental protection and community development, we are opened to invite residents to join in the discussion and decide how sustainable communities should be,” Mr. Li explains.