Photo: Chen-Jianhua1

Interview: Chen Jianhua, Mayor of Guangzhou

22 March 2015

by Richard Forster

Richard Forster spoke with Chen Jianhua, Mayor of Guangzhou, about his plans to transform waste management in the city and to build one of the largest metro systems in the world

The Guangzhou International Institute for Urban Innovation was launched in 2013. What are the aims for the institute in terms of assisting urban development globally?

The institute is still in its infancy. We are seeking cooperation with international strategic partners and have reached out to several international organisations and academic institutions. By pooling together global knowledge, we are committed to developing the institute into an international think tank and a global platform for exchange of urban innovation.

The second edition of the Guangzhou International Awards has just taken place. What follow-up has Guangzhou put in place for the first round of winners?

The Guangzhou Award is a catalyst for the deepening of city exchanges and cooperation. Since the first edition we have promoted exchanges and boosted inter-city economic cooperation by holding economic and trade fairs and organising events for friendly interaction. Cities involved in the first edition have been able to deepen their understanding of the world’s urban development trends as they learn from the best practices and ideas. In 2015, Guangzhou will continue to conduct field trips to the winning cities of last year and crystalise their experience and practices into research reports that will be shared with other cities around the globe.

One of your priorities as mayor is greener waste management, including ceasing landfill operations by 2018. What measures have been taken to ensure this happens?

Guangzhou is a megacity with a population of some 16 million people. Currently the city produces approximately 18,000 tonnes of domestic waste on a daily basis. With only one incineration plant, Guangzhou has to use landfill to dispose of over 91 percent of its domestic waste. Before the waste classification programme was launched in 2012, the amount of domestic waste was growing at an average annual rate of 5 percent. Without proper measures to control and reduce domestic waste, the landfill sites would soon reach saturation, leaving Guangzhou with a dire ‘waste siege’ situation.

First, we went out to reduce domestic waste. In 2012, we designated pilot locations for waste classification, waste metering and low added-value waste recycling. Citizens all over Guangzhou were given incentives to engage in waste classification and to recycle what could be reused in line with the requirements of selling certain waste, segregating toxic and harmful waste from ordinary waste, and separating dry waste from wet waste. As a result, the amount of domestic waste delivered to waste disposal terminals was reduced, while the excessive growth of domestic waste in Guangzhou was effectively checked and curbed. Now, over 33 percent of Guangzhou’s domestic waste is recycled and turned into resources.

Through waste classification, there are approximately 6,000 fewer tonnes of domestic waste in Guangzhou on a daily basis. By drawing upon the experience of developed cities, we are committed to achieving a 50 percent waste recycling rate.

Over the past few years, we have increased the funding for waste incineration and incorporated the world’s most cutting-edge technologies in thermal power generation. Six thermal power plants are being planned and constructed in Guangzhou, which will use domestic waste as burning materials. These six thermal power plants, once completed, will be incinerating and disposing of 12,000 tonnes of domestic waste on a daily basis, making it possible to incinerate most of Guangzhou’s solid waste. We have intensified the construction of bio-chemical treatment facilities for domestic waste, with the overarching objective of disposing of no fewer than 3,000 tonnes of domestic waste on a day-to-day basis through bio-chemical treatment. With these measures in place, Guangzhou is set to achieve greener management and disposal of its domestic waste and ultimately to find its way out of the ‘waste siege’ situation.

Citizens have received training and education on the need to sort and recycle litter
Citizens have received training and education on the need to sort and recycle litter

Behavioural change is a key element in developing a green city particularly for waste. Can you describe how the educational tours work for citizens of Guangzhou when it comes to waste management? 

A 20-day programme was launched in June last year to develop the city as a national example for domestic waste classification. Over 10,000 citizens were involved in an educational tour to visit a landfill, an afforestation project and thermal power plant. We then officially designated Saturday as an official and regular day for public educational tours to the thermal power plant. The thermal power plant has received over 30,000 visitors and this initiative has played a big role in disseminating knowledge on waste classification and disposal.

As citizens of Guangzhou improve their awareness of the pros and cons of waste incineration and landfill, they are beginning to understand the importance of waste classification and disposal.

In addition, activities have been organised over the past two years to galvanise one million women, one million students, one million volunteers and Guangzhou’s public servants to act on waste classification. The fourth Saturday of every month has been designated as a citywide day of action for waste classification and activities have been held to promote waste classification on World Environment Day and on the Waste Classification Popularisation Day.

Transport is another important element of your administration: How successful has the vehicle licensing policy been in reducing car use and congestion in Guangzhou?

Since 2012, the issuance of new car licenses has been restricted for the purpose of alleviating pressure on the transport system. The growth of small and medium- sized passenger vehicles has slowed from approximately 20,000 vehicles per month to 7,000 vehicles per month and this has reduced the total number by an estimated 390,000 vehicles on a cumulative basis.

While implementing its control policy, Guangzhou has been developing various means of public transport, such as the metro, inter-city rail and large-capacity buses. Construction of infrastructural facilities has been accelerated, including a fully-fledged network of highways and expressways, which consist of four ring-shaped routes and 18 vertical and horizontal routes.

In the first eleven months of 2014, the average speed of vehicles in the downtown area of the city reached 31.57 km/h on working days, up by 4.4 percent compared with the same period in 2013. The operational conditions of Guangzhou’s road system are by and large within the range of acceptability in comparison to the road systems in other megacities in China.

In terms of developing public transport, which is essential alongside the reduction in private vehicles, what plans are there for expanding this? Is a larger bus rapid transit system (BRT) not more desirable than the plans announced to extend the metro?

BRT and metro are both crucial means of public transport. We decide when and where to develop a BRT line or a metro line based on scientific assessments and considering public opinion, traffic flows and road conditions. In terms of metro development, our objective is to extend the metro to over 500 kilometres by 2017. The citizens of Guangzhou are very supportive of this and are expecting to see Guangzhou’s metro system develop so that they can travel with greater ease and comfort.

Guangzhou was designated as a national public transport city in 2013. For the next five years, in adherence to the principle of ‘public transport driving urban development’, Guangzhou is committed to developing a multi-layer, multi-modality and pro-interchange urban public transport system. This will consist of rail transit lines, buses (including electric buses), taxis and waterbuses.

Under the ‘861 Action Plan’ we are developing a nationally leading public transport system, which (taxis included) will be used by 70 percent of all motorised travelers in Guangzhou by 2017.

The first thermal plant in Guangzhou
The first thermal plant in Guangzhou

What measures are being taken to fulfill the targets for non-motorised transport, particularly to develop cycle hire?

For citizens, cycling is convenient for short-distance travel and for getting from where they live to public transport stations. For the city, cycling helps with the allocation of transport resources and encourages green travel.

One state-owned corporation and three private companies in Guangzhou provide cycle hire and rental services, which cover the areas along BRT lines and metro lines. Two hundred and fifty cycle hire and rental service stations have been established, with some 16,000 bikes available for hire. This pilot public cycle system has helped reduce emissions by 3,443 tonnes of CO2 in areas along the BRT lines.

Guangzhou has a world-class BRT for which it has received many awards, with cities inside and outside China visiting the system to take back the lessons to their own cities. Which cities have inspired Guangzhou and in what areas of urban management?

The success of Guangzhou’s BRT system can be attributed in part to the city’s efforts to learn from exceptional BRT models from the high standard dedicated lanes of Brisbane and Xiamen, to the enclosed model of Bogota and Beijing and the flexible model of Seoul and Sao Paulo. By drawing upon the strengths of these three traditional models and giving full consideration to local traffic conditions, Guangzhou has succeeded in developing its own BRT model.

For a long time, the city has been learning from developed cities all over the world to improve its urban management and construction. For instance, Guangzhou has learned efficient administration and managerial expertise from Lilongwe’s Cities Mentorship Program Initiative. Guangzhou has also drawn on the experience of Taiwan in waste disposal to pilot four models for waste management. The city has also used the experience of Hong Kong and Macau to launch a system of committees to solicit public opinion on key decisions bearing on public interest and wellbeing. Under this system, the citizens of Guangzhou have been galvanised into involvement in a number of projects, including transformation of the old town and waste disposal.

A lot of cities are opening up data to citizens to assist them in solving everyday citizen complaints and enquiries, from information on traffic, to public transport coordination and submission of tax returns at municipal offices. How much input do citizens have in your city’s initiatives?

Citizens are able to contribute by way of attending initiative drafting symposia and policy hearings, giving suggestions and advice, and expressing their views through online forums. Since January, 2012 when I assumed office as the Mayor of Guangzhou, the municipal government has formulated 47 sets of official rules and regulations and 103 official normative documents, with public input in all of them.

Online platforms to solicit public opinion have been established at the website www.dayoo.com and at the city’s official website. When drafting critical policy documents on behalf of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government, government departments must enlist public opinion online in compliance with relevant regulations.

For example, when we were formulating measures for after-class care for primary students, we received as many as 5,000 suggestions from Guangzhou citizens. We took these suggestions very seriously and always tried to reflect them in official decisions and measures.

By filing an application, citizens are able to acquire, from governments, whatever government-related information they need for their daily activities, production activities and scientific research. In this way, the right of citizens, legal persons and organisations to acquire government-related information is properly protected and exercised.

Guangzhou has 250 cycle hire stations with 16,000 bikes available
Guangzhou has 250 cycle hire stations with 16,000 bikes available

This edition of Cities Today includes a special focus on resilience and the World Bank has identified Guangzhou as one of the top ten cities in the world threatened by flooding. What measures is Guangzhou implementing to increase the city’s resilience against climate change?

We’ve paid close attention to the report identifying Guangzhou as one of the top ten cities in the world threatened by flooding and organised a seminar focusing on capacity development for Guangzhou in flood control and disaster reduction. Some foreign journals reporting on flood control in Guangzhou have been inaccurate in their prediction model. First, improvements in flood control standards and capacity since 2005 have not been taken into account; second, extremely negative values have been predicted with regard to land subsidence and sea level rise in Guangzhou to 2050; and thirdly, the prediction model is too simple in not considering population distribution changes and economic developments. On the whole, Guangzhou is a megacity with a high level of security in flood control. However, those papers have caught our attention to provide relevant research and improve flood control and disaster reduction systems in the city.

A Tripartite Economic Alliance between Auckland, Guangzhou and Los Angeles, was signed in November and marked the 25th anniversary of Auckland’s sister city relationship with Guangzhou. Your city also recently signed a sister city agreement with Ahmedabad, the first Sino-Indian agreement. What are your expectations of these agreements and do you see economic as well as cultural development as a key part of them?

Regarding the cooperation with Auckland and Los Angeles, this is focused on strategic cooperation between chambers of commerce, airport services, film production and distribution, brand promotion, environmental protection, medical care, tourism development, education and scientific research. It is our hope that by expanding the areas of cooperation with Auckland and Los Angeles, we can effectively boost the soft power of Guangzhou, enhance Guangzhou’s image on the international stage and create a favourable environment for the city’s socio-economic development.

China and India have developed closer ties in recent years and a sister city agreement has been signed between Guangzhou and Ahmedabad, which is sure to propel the economic and trade cooperation and exchanges between the two cities. We will incentivise and encourage local enterprises to invest in India and take their business to a whole new level. In 2015, we will continue to deepen the sister city partnership between Guangzhou and Ahmedabad by advancing bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, culture and science and technology.

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