Attachment A
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Attachment A Report on International Travel – Guangzhou International Award for Innovation for Green Square Report On International Travel – Guangzhou International Award For Urban Innovation For Green Square Travel Report: Councillor Jess Scully 1. Executive Summary At its meeting on Monday 19 November 2018, Council endorsed that Councillor Jess Scully attend and speak on behalf of the Lord Mayor at the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation from 5 to 8 December 2018. I left Sydney after the Committee Meeting on Monday 3 December 2018, arriving in Guangzhou on the morning of Tuesday 4 December 2018. That afternoon I experienced Guangzhou’s public transport network and visited its cultural precincts, including the Lychee Bay Area and the Guangzhou Opera House. I also met with the Australian Deputy Consul General in Guangzhou. On Wednesday 5 December 2018, I had a half day trip to Shenzhen where Ms Liu Jiachen, the Deputy Secretary General of Shenzhen Municipal Government, briefed me about Shenzhen’s creative industries. Later I visited the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association and Madam Shen Yongfang, the President of the Association, briefed me about Shenzhen’s fashion industry and Shenzhen Fashion Week. We discussed their interest in Sydney Fashion Week, and agreed to explore how to achieve this major textile and fashion manufacturing hub having a presence there. My final meeting was with HAX, a hardware startups incubator, which hosts a number of Australian and Sydney based hardware startups. I informed them about the City’s successful Visiting Entrepreneur Program, and committed to connecting them with relevant City staff who could help build new opportunities for local tech businesses. The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation was held from Thursday 6 December CLR SCULLY WITH MS LIU JIACHEN, THE DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL OF SHENZHEN MUNICIPAL to Saturday 8 December 2018. It received 313 PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT submissions from 213 cities and 70 countries/regions from which 15 cities were shortlisted. In addition to Sydney, the shortlist included New York (United States), Milan (Italy), Salvador (Brazil), and Repentigny (Canada). On Thursday 6 December 2018, the City of Sydney was the first city to present our Green Square Project at the presentation session. Two staff members, Ms Lila Contziu, Manager, Green Square Place Making, and Ms Tamara Bruckshaw, Manager, Major Projects Planning, delivered the City’s presentation and answered audience questions. In the afternoon, we listened to other cities’ presentations. Afterwards, I took part in a media call with 10 local media organisations, who together had an audience reach of 10 million people, 2 to further promote Sydney as a Green, Global and Connected city. The day finished with a Pearl River night cruise which showcased the lighting and scenic river views. My speech at the Global Mayors’ Forum on Friday 7 December 2018, had the theme “From Words to Actions: Green City Development and Cooperation”, and was followed by a Discussion Panel with other mayors and policy makers. Mr Chen Zhiying, the Executive Vice-Mayor of Guangzhou, hosted the Sydney delegation for a Courtesy Call and praised the Sister City relationship with Sydney, noting how it has benefited people from both cities. My final activity in Guangzhou on Saturday 8 December 2018 was a tour to the Guangzhou Urban Planning Exhibition Centre where I learned about the City’s development history, and had a site visit to the Flower City Plaza in its town centre. The cost for the three days travel averaged CLR SCULLY WITH FORMER MAYOR OF GUANGZHOU, approximately $525 per person. MR CHEN JIANHUA 3 2. Guangzhou Sydney and Guangzhou’s Sister City Relationship was established in 1986 and remains active and well supported by a wide range of businesses and communities. In 2016, the Lord Mayor led the largest delegation in Sydney’s history to Guangzhou, with more than 100 representatives from local businesses and communities, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of our Sister City Relationship. GUANGZHOU OPERA HOUSE AND THE CANTO TOWER 2.1 Site Visits It was my first visit to Guangzhou and I was impressed by its convenient public transport and its well-preserved historic cultural precincts. It showed its modern face with a series of iconic buildings on the bank of the Pearl River in the new town centre – Zhu Jiang New Town. The Lychee Bay Precinct in Guangzhou’s oldest district, Li Wan District, combines residential areas with historic relics and architecture. The Precinct has retained many original features – shops and homes on both sides of Lychee Creek connected by pedestrian-only stone bridges and, at the same time, community facilities have been created which include fitness facilities, Cantonese Opera performing stages, a library, and an exhibition centre. It is the most renowned tourist attraction, and also the local community’s favourite activity centre. The Guangzhou Opera House, located in Zhu Jiang New Town, is the new icon designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It is the largest opera house in South China, serving Guangzhou city’s 13 million people as CLR SCULLY WITH MR HE YING, GENERAL MANAGER, AND well as the whole of Guangdong province, MS LI XING, EXTERNAL RELATIONS, GUANGZHOU OPERA with a population of approximately 110 HOUSE million people. The General Manager of Guangzhou Opera House, Mr He Ying, showed me the Concert Hall, the Opera Hall, and the Multi-function Theatre. As the busiest performing centre in 4 South China, it has performances from all over the world. He also briefly outlined their renovation plan which will upgrade superseded facilities and technologies even though it was only built in 2009. The visit to the Guangzhou Urban Planning Exhibition Centre was an opportunity to understand Guangzhou’s urban design concept and future town planning. Its masterplan Guangzhou Urban Planning Overview (2017 – 2035), will demonstrate how to accommodate its growing population. Our last stop, the Flower City Square, is the city’s largest square and is referred as Guangzhou’s “Living Room”. It is a popular venue for local residents and tourists with its trees and public art works, especially in mid-summer. GUANGZHOU CITY MODEL IN THE GUANGZHOU URBAN PLANNING EXHIBITION CENTRE 2.2 The Global Mayors’ Forum and the Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation The theme of the Global Mayors’ Forum and its 2018 Guangzhou International Urban Innovation conference was “Global Openness and Inclusive Innovation”. On behalf of the Lord Mayor and the City, I delivered a 10-minute keynote speech in the parallel session entitled “From Words to Actions: Green City Development and Cooperation”. I provided information about the City: its area, population, economy, our cultural CLR SCULLY IN KEYNOTE SPEAKING IN THE GLOBAL MAYORS’ FORUM diversity, the focus on Sustainable Sydney 2030 and our international engagement in the 100 Resilient Cities program. I also highlighted the Green Square Redevelopment Project and how it is implementing our vision to develop Sydney as a Green, Global, and Connected city. 5 I also participated in a high-level discussion panel with leaders from international cities and organisations. It was good to learn about how other cities are dealing with common urban issues. Mr Jung Jong Tee, the Deputy Mayor of Kwangju, Korea, and Mr Arturo Lorenzoni, the Deputy Mayor of Padua, Italy made detailed CLR SCULLY IN SUMMIT DIALOGUE WITH INTERNATIONAL MAYORS presentations about their cities. Mr Nicholas You, the Honorary Chairman of World Urban Campaign, articulated the importance of building the global ecological partnership, driven by technology innovation. Mr Lin Guangming, the Executive Director of NUS Urban Development Consulting Centre, Singapore, and Ms Lee Hong Wei, the Director and Professor of Ecological Civilization Research Office, Party School of the CPC Central Committee, spoke about the importance of creating and building community for our shared future and collaboration between all our cities and local governments to address the issues we are facing. I also took part in a Summit Dialogue facilitated by Mr Lin Guangming, with Ms Kirstin Miller, CEO of Ecocity Builders; Mr Zhang Yisheng, Vice Mayor of Zhuhai, China; and Mr Lin Guan, Mayor of Hezhou, China. The presentation by our staff, Ms Lila Contziu, Manager, Green Square Place Making, and Ms Tamara Bruckshaw, Manager, Major Projects Planning, on the Green Square Redevelopment Project entitled “Green Square: From a Rich Industrial Past to a Vibrant, Sustainable and Connected Community” was professional and detailed. In the later Q & A session, they answered audience questions about government management and the City’s MS LILA CONTZIU AND MS TAMARA BRUCKSHAW PRESENTING GREEN SQUARE public consultation processes. PRESENTATION IN GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR URBAN INNOVATION 6 The jury acknowledged the Green Square Redevelopment Project was “Australia’s largest urban renewal project to date, to be supported by participating public and non-public stakeholders and aims to be the most liveable, resilient, lively, walkable, accessible, sustainable and unique area of the city for the benefit of its estimated 61,000 residents.” The Technical Committee Report states, “The Technical Committee were impressed by the holistic approach to innovation, scale and transferability to the project and notes that the successful implementation of the project will deliver outcomes consistent with the SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages; SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all; SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all; and SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and GREEN SQUARE INFORMATION BOARD IN THE sustainable.” EXHIBITION AREA 2.3 Courtesy Call with the Guangzhou Government Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, Mr Chen Zhiying, hosted a Courtesy Call with our delegation and extended a warm welcome from Guangzhou to its Sister City.