Sustainable Urban Development

Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 March 2015
The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH

The British Academy and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) held a joint workshop in London, aimed at promoting knowledge sharing and marshalling excellent social sciences and humanities research in support of a key policy debate which is of national and international significance. The event brought together 15 scholars and urban planners from the UK and China, to explore challenges and opportunities inherent in urban growth and development as well as exchange lessons learned. Presentations focused on a broad range of issues, including making better decisions for cities, low-carbon transitions, urban economies, designing effective social policies, reconstructing urban spaces, and the implications of ageing and migration for cities.

The SASS delegation was led by Vice-President Professor Wang Zhen, and included representatives of the SASS Institutes of Economics, National Economics, Literature, Urban and Demographic Studies as well as the Department of Research and Development. On 25 March, the British Academy Foreign Secretary and Vice-President, Professor Dame Helen Wallace DBE CMG FBA, and the Chair of the British Academy’s China Panel, Professor Tim Wright, met with Vice-President Professor Wang Zhen, to discuss the existing collaborative relationship between the two Academies.