2024 Annual National Planning Conference (ANPC) in China

On the morning of Sept. 7, 2024, the 2024 Annual National Planning Conference, themed “Beautiful China: Co-Constructing, CoGoverning, and Sharing,” was held at the Hefei Binhu International Conference and Exhibition Center. The event was hosted by the Urban Planning Society of China (UPSC) and the Hefei Municipal People’s Government. The opening ceremony was chaired by Shi Nan, Executive Vice President and Secretary-General of the UPSC. During the ceremony, Qin Haixiang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, delivered a speech. He emphasized that as the country deeply studies and implements the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of CPC, the Annual National Planning Conference provides a timely

and significant platform for experts and scholars to collectively brainstorm and offer suggestions for urban planning, construction, and governance. He expressed the hope that the UPSC would continue to provide a platform for the latest theoretical advancements and practical achievements, promoting high-level academic discussions and exchanges. Other speakers included Ana Claudia Rossbach, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNHabitat, Pietro Elisei, President of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Wang Jinzhan, Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Yang Baojun, President of the UPSC. Luo Yunfeng, Mayor of Hefei, gave a keynote speech titled “Persisting in the Integration of Planning, Construction, and Governance to Build a Livable, Resilient, and Smart City,” reviewing Hefei’s development over the past 70 years and summarizing the city’s recent practices and explorations in improving urban planning, construction, and governance.

The conference invited seven experts from the fields of urban planning, construction, and governance to give academic presentations on various topics including drinking water, carbon neutrality goals, urban aesthetics, ecological civilization, urban renewal, planning practices, low-altitude economy, and urban transportation.

During the “Honor Moment” section, several awards were presented, including the “10th Western Light University Students Summer Planning Design Exchange Winning Teams,” “Outstanding Papers of 18th National Youth Urban Planning Paper Competition,” etc. In the “Achievements Publication” section, Duan Jin, Vice President of the UPSC, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor at Southeast University, released the “Park City Index (2023).”

The Annual National Planning Conference is the most influential, academically advanced, and participatory academic summit and industry event in the field of urban planning in China. The 2024 conference ran from Sept. 7 to 9, with 80 parallel events.