Guangzhou is the largest city and capital of the Guangdong province and the third largest city in China. Guangzhou extends through 7,434.4 square kilometres and was, in 2019, home to more than 15 million people, in a province of more than 115 million people. It is the core of one of the most populous built-up metropolitan areas, extending through several neighbouring cities to form one of the planet’s largest urban agglomerations. The city is the beginning and terminus of the famous Maritime Silk Road and continues to be a port of global importance.
Since 1957 the city has co-hosted the China Import and Export Fair (also known as The Canton Fair) with the Ministry of Commerce of China in both spring and autumn each year. With 1,185000m2 of exhibition space, the most recent edition had 60,000 booths, 160,000 products/services, 213 countries represented, 25,000 exhibitors and 191,000 visitors. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the April 2020 edition of the Fair was cancelled, and the October 2020 edition is being presented online.
Commencing in 2012, the City of Guangzhou has presented the biennial Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation in partnership with UCLG and Metropolis and supported by ICLEI and C40. The Guangzhou Award serves as a platform for metropolitan governments to share and exchange innovative practices from their cities in implementing actions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The Award’s objective is to contribute to the creation of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.
Many of the past winning and shortlisted initiatives from the Guangzhou Award are presented on the use platform: https://use.metropolis.org/urban-awards/guangzhou-award
Guangzhou is a Metropolis member.
The Guangzhou Award, in collaboration with Metropolis, published a report of the main urban innovation projects presented in the 4th edition of the Award. Available here.
Representatives from the City of Guangzhou administration participated in a Metropolis pilot project, Sustainable Cities Collaboratory, in collaboration with other local governments. The Sustainable Cities Collaboratory is a practically oriented research body. It brings together the knowledge and skills of mayors, municipal officers, urban practitioners and academic researchers to develop principles and policies for good urban practice. Its role is to develop practical roadmaps for sustainable urban development in cities. Fore more information click here.
Local Government Structure
Guangzhou is governed by a dual leadership system, comprising both the Communist Party Committee and the municipal government. The Party Secretary, who is the highest-ranking official in the city, leads the Communist Party Committee and has a significant role in shaping local policies and decision-making. The Mayor presides over the executive functions and administration of the city. Guangzhou is divided into administrative districts, each with its own set of local officials who report to the city-level authorities. These districts are further segmented into sub-districts and communities.
Guangzhou on the use platform
Below is an initiative being implemented by the City of Guangzhou that demonstrates effective metropolitan governance, sustainable citymaking and the localization of the SDGs.
https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/global-resources-allocation-centre
City Profile
For a detailed profile on Guangzhou including population demographics, administrative structure, industry and economics, click on any of the above case studies and then select "City information".
To find more case studies and to connect to city makers from Guangzhou, use our search function and select "Guangzhou" as the "city".
Guangzhou is one of the metropolitan areas that were analysed by Metropolis and LSE-Cities with the Metropolitan Indicators System: https://indicators.metropolis.org/metropolitan-spaces/guangzhou
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