We are a collaborative venture between Cardiff University and Hefei University of Technology and pursue an innovative research agenda on the development, management and sustainability of cities.
The China-UK Research Centre for Eco-Cities and Sustainable Development is a collaborative venture between Cardiff University and Hefei University of Technology and pursues an innovative research agenda on the development, management and sustainability of cities.
At Cardiff University, the Centre is based in the School of Geography and Planning. It builds on the School’s reputation for high-quality research and partnership working on cities and ecological development.
The Centre will provide research facilities and an opportunity for collaboration within the fields of climate change; and in the context of Chinese urbanisation green and low carbon development, material re-use and recycling; and ecological modernisation. Comparative research will be particularly important and the Centre will seek to identify and develop lessons learned in urban development and rural migration in Europe and China.
The Director of the Centre is Dr Li Yu (Cardiff University). He is assisted by two Deputy Directors, Professor Gang Chen (Hefei University of Technology) and Dr Andrew Flynn (Cardiff University).
Aims
- To promote theoretically innovative and empirically grounded research on eco-cities and sustainable development.
- To contribute to policy debates on sustainable urban futures.
- To support the training and career development postgraduate researchers.
- To enable research staff to gain funding on Centre research themes.
The Centre has an international outlook with staff drawn from Cardiff University and Hefei University of Technology. We aim to bring together different disciplinary and academic traditions to explore theoretical perspectives on eco-city development, how citizens, business and government use eco-cities and the opportunities for lesson learning.
The Centre takes an inclusive perspective on eco-development, recognising that it involves the relationship between new urban areas and their rural hinterlands, the governance of urban spaces, methodologies for spatial analysis and the links between culture and development.
Key research themes for the Centre include:
- low carbon eco-city development
- integrated urban-rural development
- urban public policy and governance
- spatial environmental analysis
- cultural and historical heritage.
The Centre will deliver on its research themes by:
- bringing together individuals and research teams from the two Universities
- supporting research training for PhD students
- encouraging collaborative funded research projects
- participating in a visiting scholars programme to promote the exchange of staff between the two universities.
Selected publications
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| Project name | Funded | Investigator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Smart eco-cities for a green economy: a comparative study of Europe and China | ESRC, £48,333 | Dr L Yu, Dr A Flynn |
| The research for symbiosis between traditional buildings and environment in rural township in the process of urbanisation | British Council, £1,500 | Dr L Yu |
| The research for Liveable Quality and its Promotion Path for Xiamen | n/a | Dr L Yu, Dr A Flynn |
Centre Director
Academic staff
Professor Andrew Flynn
Professor in Environmental Policy and Planning
- flynnac@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4851
