Architectural firm, Woods Bagot, is one of many Australian firms to benefit from sustainable developments in the Hunan Province of China.
??A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Austrade’s regional director for North East Asia, Laurie Smith, and the Mayor of the Changsha Municipal Government, Jianfei Zhang, will see the region utilises the expertise of many Australian businesses during its development.
??Changsha is the capital of Hunan province in rapidly developing interior China, and is set to link up with two neighbouring cities Zhujiang and Xiangtan to form an urban centre with a population of 13 million. ??Austrade sees strong potential for Australian companies to deliver green building expertise according to Smith. ??
“The rapid growth of Changsha’s economy, as in many other regional centres, is creating huge demand for housing and construction,” he said. ??
“Over the next two years, the Changsha Government will invest approximately $5billion in the phased redevelopment of the Xiandao district. Many billions more are expected to go towards the overall redevelopment between 2012 and 2020.” ??
He added: “The MOU covers a wide range of sustainable development areas including green building and construction, emissions reduction technologies, environmental planning and consultation services, waste treatment and disposal and trade and financial services related to sustainable city management.” ??
On Monday Austrade and the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) will also sign a separate MOU to help facilitate closer ties between the GBCA and the China Green Building Council. The agreement will help progress initiatives around training and industry development in China, green building sector marketing, participation in the Shanghai World Expo 2010, as well as promote closer relationships with the Chinese green building sector.
