UCL spreads its global expertise in city planning to China

UCL (University College London) has today signed two Memoranda of Understanding with officials from the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Cluster (CZT) in China's Hunan province and Central South University Business School (CSU) to foster exchange of expertise in city masterplanning within the region, which comprises eight major cities and is home to 65 million people. The agreement is part of the UK-China Business Summit led by the Prime Minister David Cameron. The signing of the memoranda demonstrates the benefits of translating research knowledge into practice and in so doing fostering closer ties with China, from which broader UK commercial opportunities can follow. The CZT City Cluster is a critical development zone in China which aims to build a world-class, modern, ecological, liveable city cluster which addresses sustainability and industrial growth. It is located at a natural North-South and East-West intersection hub and is therefore important in developing China's interior and strengthening regional economic competitiveness. As part of their long-term strategy the CZT City Cluster needs to address energy demand reduction, integrated transportation systems, water, heritage conservation, regeneration and a programme of sustainable urbanisation. The Bartlett's interdisciplinary expertise in spatial masterplanning and other technical areas can contribute ' in addition to the involvement of other faculties and departments in due course.