APA President and Executive Director Complete Historic Visit to China

APA President Mary Kay Peck, AICP, and Executive Director Paul Farmer, AICP, recently finshed a visit to China that included city tours, major speeches, agreements with Chinese associations, and the opening of an APA training center that is available to APA members.

Peck finished her two-week five-city tour of China on November 10, 2004. She participated in the dedication of APA's office and training center in Shanghai, hosted a dinner for women planners, and toasted Chinese leaders who turned out for a special partnership dinner at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

The primary purpose for her visit was to deliver the keynote address at the 10th anniversary national conference of the Chinese Association of City Planning. APA has been stepping up its international work and collaborations with our counterparts around the world including the U.K., Australia, Canada, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Global issues require effective planning, and APA is in a good position to take a leadership role in addressing environmental, cultural, and economic challenges faced by our colleagues in China. Peck popularized APA's concept of creating communities of lasting value through her remarks across the People's Republic.

Click here for Mary Kay Peck's presentation.

Accompanying Peck on the first part of her visit was APA Executive Director and CEO Paul Farmer, who was making his second trip on APA's behalf to China. He delivered a major address to the top planners and planning organizations in Shanghai, seen by many as the hottest city in the world and one with its share of planning issues.

Click here to read Paul Farmer's address.

Farmer also completed accords with the Shanghai Land Society and the Urban Planning Society, then signed similar broad-based cooperative agreements with three major Chinese national associations: the China Association of City Planning, the Urban Planning Society of China and the Chinese Historic Preservation Society. The agreements cover conference collaboration, training, exchanges and publications.

Click here for details of the agreements.

APA's China program is funded through grants and contracts, not member dues. Click here to see an outline of the program. The primary focus of APA's effort in China is education and training, exchanges, and demonstration projects. Due to China's rapid urbanization and economic growth, its cities are expected to grow by 600 million — the equivalent of twice the population of the U.S. — in 25 years.

For more information, contact Jeffrey Soule, FAICP, Policy Director (jsoule@planning.org), or Yufeng Guo, International Program Associate (yguo@planning.org)