The Global Mayors' Forum (GMF) and the 2018 Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference was held in Guangzhou from Dec 6th to 8th.
The event gathered more than 700 representatives from 105 cities of 39 countries around the world and 68 among which are leaders of the local governments, aiming to share experience and jointly explore strategies for sustainable development.
The Global Mayors' Forum (GMF) and the 2018 Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference was in Guangzhou from Dec 6th to 8th. Ma Xingrui, Governor of Guangdong, made an address during the opening ceremony.
Wen Guohui, Mayor of Guangzhou, shared the city’s practice to promote electric bus during a themed Forum.
Guangzhou is a mega city and its passenger transport intensity ranked 1st in China. Its average daily rides of metro and bus respectively reached 6.44 million and 8.37 million, which poses higher requirement to build a convenient and green public transport network.
“Guangzhou put 10486 electric buses into use and built 4353 charging piles in just one year,” said Wen, “it successfully reduced 2 percent of NO2 concentration and 19400 tons of nitric oxide emission.”
Guangzhou’s electric bus and charging pile [Photo/Nanfang Plus]
He shed lights into the reasons why the city could implement the move in a short period of time.
“The plan required a 14-billion-yuan (about US$ 2 billion) construction fund,” he said, “We actively expand the financial sources, for example, adopt green financial instruments and models, guarantee subsidy funds for vehicle purchase and offer 8-year incentive funds for emission reduction.”
In addition, Guangzhou has involved charging pile construction into the city’s infrastructure planning and encourage commercial development of bus stations to support sustainable development.
Reported by Jasmine Yin
Edited by Wing Zhang
The themed forum
Representatives from different cities praised Guangzhou’s practice. Dato’Nor Hisham Bin Ahmad Dahlan, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, said environmental problem is a common challenge faced by cities worldwide. “I hope to learn from a series of strategies adopted by Guangzhou, and further promote electric bus in Kuala Lumpur.”
Miguel Ángel Garrido, President of Metropolitan Regional Council of Santiago and Chile Vice President of Metropolis Latin America, said Santiago also bought 200 electric bus to cope with environmental problem last year and hoped the city could have more in the future.
On the evening of December 7th, representatives from 105 cities are unanimously agreeing to publish the Guangzhou Declaration(highlights):
·We highly acknowledge that the world today is undergoing a period of great development, change and adjustment.
·We should provide urban solutions to achieve sustainable development goals.
·We will make contributions from the cities’ perspective in order to build a shared future for all.
·We will make contributions from the cities’ perspective to promote economic globalization.
·We shall preserve the roots of the city in order to promote the connection of minds among the people.
·We highly appreciate the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, jointly created by the United Cities and Local Governments, the World Association of the Major Metropolises and the Guangzhou Municipal Government.
·We sincerely thank the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the city of Guangzhou for their efforts in preparing for the Global Mayors’ Forum.
