The Bartlett has recently completed its second round of training for senior Chinese urban planning officials in partnership with the Guangdong Urban Rural Planning Design Institute.

The latest group, from six cities across the Guangdong Province, spent two weeks at the central London UCL campus. Working alongside Chinese PhD and Masters students from The Bartlett, the delegates received lectures from leading academics and participated in Q&A sessions that dealt with their issues and helped them find solutions.

Afternoons were mainly spent on field visits - exploring key aspects of London and the surrounding metropolis to complement the morning’s lectures and see practical examples. They then had time in the UK to visit other cities and rural destinations to explore different models and examples.

Thecombination of theory, practice and discussions with experts gave the officials a well-rounded experience of great value to take back into their workplace.

With UCL Consultants providing contractual and administrative support, David Cobb (Director of Business Development at The Bartlett) used his knowledge and experience of working with the officials to develop a programme that addressed a number of pressing issues faced by the Chinese government such as reducing the environmental impact of cities and improving the quality of life of city-dwelling populations.

UCL hopes to offer similar training courses to other Provinces across China.

There are currently plans to adapt this programme and offer it within various South American countries.

David Cobb noted:

“The feedback and interaction with the Chinese groups has been a fantastically rewarding experience for everyone involved - from the officials, academics and students. I’m excited to be also looking at how the model can be adapted to Mexico, which has some unique urban planning challenges ahead of it. We’re already engaging with our Mexican students and alumni and building relationships with urban planners there in preparation. We see it as a unique opportunity to allow other cities to benefit from our research.” 

For more information, please visit the UCL Life Learning website: www.ucl.ac.uk/lifelearning/case-studies/training-government-officials-latest-urban-planning