Salford University professor to help make Chinese cities more sustainable » Communities » 24dash.com

A research project to help improve the environment in one of China’s biggest cities has been announced by the University of Salford.
 
Dr Charlie Fu of the University’s internationally top-rated Centre for the Built & Human Environment will travel to Wuhan in the next few months to explore ways of integrating British and European standards of urban sustainability into plans for the 8.8m population city.

Situated in central China, Wuhan is currently less developed than coastal cities like Shanghai or Beijing, but is beginning to emerge as a significant commercial force in the country.

As a result, problems of urban sustainability are beginning to emerge such as traffic congestion, industrial pollution and poor health.

Dr Fu will work with local government and universities to assess the city’s urban sustainability using European models such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and Sustainability Appraisal (SA).

Using these models, he’ll be able to assess impact of large scale projects on the environment and develop a new model which can be used by authorities in China.

He said: “Chinese and European urban conditions are very different, but by adapting the rigorous standards of the European assessments to use in China, the new model can help the country’s authorities to better plan for the impact of new developments.

“Wuhan is ideal for this study because it is a city which, though currently undeveloped, has major plans for expansion. It also has China’s largest university and an existing expertise in this area. I think that by working together we can make a real difference.”