Three students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) participated in a Sustainable Urban and Rural Development Workshop at Tongji University, Shanghai from the 3rd till the 11th of August 2016. The students were Tan Pei Yee (1SBEP), Nur Nadzirah Binti Roswandi (2SBEP) and Mohd Aizuddeen Bin Mohammad Meseztor (3SBEP) and accompanied by Dr. Gobi Krishna A/L Sinniah from the department. A total of 35 students with diverse academic background from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and Malaysia participated in the workshop.

The objective of the workshop was to expose participants to issues of cultural heritage, conservation, aging, environment, urban transportation planning, disaster prevention in urban and rural areas. The workshop also aims to  inculcate and inspire the younger generation on the importance and need for sustainable development. The nine days workshop consisted of lectures on history of rural and urban planning development in East Asia, the smart technology in architecture engineering in  response to earthquakes, environmental and energy conservation in building construction, traditional gardens, the influence and impact of Taoist culture in modern society, the Eurasia culture and its effects on modern urban planning.

Participants were also on site visits to commercial and residential areas, the Shikumen building in old Shanghai, the Nanjiang Road commercial pedestrian street, The Bund, a waterfront promenade and boardwalk along the Huangpu River that showcase “the museum of buildings on one side and the more modern skyscrapers on the other, the historical and cultural districts, namely, Xin Tian Di, Zhu Jia Jiao, Hang Zhou, Xixi National Wetland Park and Xi Tang.

Participants were also divided into groups and are required to do a group project with “Sustainability” being the theme for all the projects.  The climax to the nine day workshop was a presentation of the group projects followed by a closing ceremony.