Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, December 2018 - The three-year partnership between UN-Habitat and several institutions in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, culminated in the 2018 International Placemaking Week. Nearly 500 participants from 41 countries explored how to improve urban public spaces and ensure that communities help create, plan, design and manage public spaces which promote the public’s health, happiness and well being.

Under the theme “Shaping Better Public Spaces. Remaking Places; Transforming Cities”, the Wuhan Municipal Government and UN-Habitat hosted the multi-partner event series, at five city locations from 6 – 13 December. Delegates and speakers were welcomed at the plenary session on 11 December, at the Wuhan Conference Centre by Vice-Mayor Wang Xiangwang. The Director of the Wuhan Land Resources and Planning Bureau, Mr. Sheng Hongtao, announced the Wuhan Declaration – seven commitments to promote placemaking leading to quality public spaces in China, and beyond. The leaders of the participating organizations also launched the China Placemaking Network.

The students who won the competition organized by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Wuhan Land Use and Spatial Planning Research Centre (WLSP) to find innovative urban design ideas for a vacant waterfront site in Wuhan were announced.

The Wuhan Planning and Design Institute (WPDI) and the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) hosted an intensive planning session or charrette and a forum on placemaking for waterfronts. WLSP and the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) explored placemaking in historical streets and heritage areas. Wuhan University and Huazhong University for Science and Technology invited students and speakers to their campuses to discuss placemaking for communities.

The Wuhan Placemaking Week featured on social media in China and beyond (#PlacemakingWeekWuhan) with studies, presentation and coverage by PPS on placemakingweek/wuhan.  Read more on “Placemaking Takes Root in China”.