Building sustainable cities

Better balanced urbanization is serving as a new platform for practical cooperation between China and the EU

More than half of the world's population now live in cities and more than two-thirds will do so by 2030. The massive rural-urban migration has created one metropolis after another, which has had an enormous impact on the global economy and sustainability.

China's rapid urbanization, with a predicted "urban billion" by 2030, is at the heart of the global debate on urbanization. The European Union and China launched their partnership on sustainable urbanization during the China-EU summit in February to explore different ways in which they can join forces to meet one of 21st century's major challenges.