Jiangsu Mayors Training October 2004

The American Planning Association (APA) and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), have been collaborating with Chinese government agencies at central, provincial, and local levels since 1979. In October 2004, APA welcomed the mayors' delegation from Jiangsu for 21 days of training in urban and regional planning, development, and management, as well as a broad and balanced view of the success and limitations of planning in America. This training, as with previous and forthcoming training sessions, provided ample opportunities for professional exchange and mutual learning.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Jiangsu Mayor Tang Jianming summed up the experience:

We have covered more than 50,000 kilometers in distance in this training, visited more than 14 cities, attended 49 lectures, and tour more than 70 sites of important planning lessons. This is an interesting, instructive, and intense program. Some of us lost a few pounds, which is a good thing, while we learned a great deal.

In only 21 days, the 27 mayors visited more than a dozen major cities and several smaller ones, including Chicago, Boston, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., the Twin Cities; Seattle and Renton, Washington; Portland and Hillsboro, Oregon; Los Angeles; and San Francisco. They tasted the flavors in seven Chinatowns and squeezed together into one private apartment to see the size of an average American living space. They visited university campuses and filled disks with photos of green spaces and gardens everywhere they went: Chicago's Millennium Park, Boston Common, New Haven 9-square, New York State Park, Longwood Garden, Washington Mall, Twin Cities Chain-of-Lakes, Seattle Gas Works Park, and Portland Rose Garden.

The mayors also attended lectures and meetings, sometimes for as long as eight hours a day. They met government officials — from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to Hillsboro, Oregon, Mayor Tom Hughes — planning directors, and planning commissioners. Planning professors and more than 30 professional planners spoke to the group in presentations and guided tours. Topics included the Big Dig, transit system operation in Boston, Lake Michigan water quality, Seattle energy conservation, D.C. comprehensive planning, New York zoning, brownfield redevelopment in Seattle, citizen participation, and much more.

Click here to view the full itinerary.

When asked about the lessons learned in the training, the most frequent answer was: "People should be the center of planning." Among other lessons learned: "historic preservation," "citizen participation is important," "avoid some American failures in earlier planning." One mayor summed up what he learned: "Planning is long term efforts. Mayors should look at bigger pictures. Planning must be updated in constantly changing times with core value of 'people.'"

Click here for more information from the training evaluations.

Besides take-home points, memorable moments were taken home as well:

Mayors' first stop-Chicago		Mayor Tang and Dennis
Visit Philadelphia		Lecture from Jeff Soule, Policy Director of APA
Walking tour with Mr. Weiming Lu in Minneapolis		Friendly exchanges

List of delegation members