10/09/10 – The second and last day of the Expo Theme Forum - "Economic Transformation and Urban-Rural Relations" in Shaoxing, China, addressed the topics of population mobility and social integration for harmonious urban-rural relations.

Speakers from China, UK, USA, and Japan shared experiences on how each country or city has dealt or is dealing with the influx of rural labor into urban areas and its attendant social problems, an important and inevitable challenge of industrialization and economic transformation.

In China, with its extensive rural population, reducing the urban-rural gap and fully integrating migrant workers in the full range of life in the cities indeed represent a key challenge for sustaining its urbanization process and thereby remaining competitive, explained Professor Li Qiang of Tsinghua University.

Europe has also faced similar integration challenges currently faced by China, which is experiencing the largest internal migration in history, according to Peter Ramsden, Thematic Pole Manager of URBACT. Taking in particular the case of London and how it is dealing with its highly diverse population, Ramsden stressed that while integration happens at the initiative of the migrants, governments can speed up the process, urging cities to invest in the education of second-generation migrants as a measure of early intervention.

China could also take away lessons from the experience of the U.S., "a country of immigrants," with 98% of its population having immigrated there or with ancestors who have, said Professor of Sociology Dudley Poston of Texas A&M University. Without immigrants, the US economy would not be in the position it is in today, and without floating migrants, China's rapid growth would not be realized, he told the forum.

Meanwhile, Professor Kenji Kosaka of Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, drew parallels in the high economic growth experienced by Japan in the 1950s and 60s and that of China today. According to him, Japan's high economic growth was made possible by the stable and rationalized migration between rural and urban areas. This was carried out in the form of "group employment"—or the concerted effort involving the Japanese government, local associations of enterprises, and individual companies to integrate and care for the rural migrant workers in cities.

Also on the agenda today was the economic integration of city clusters in the context of globalization.  As globalization spreads, economic competition has shifted from the nation-to-nation model to the city-to-city model.  Speakers discussed issues involved in developing city clusters, which experience has shown to be closely linked to the success of a city, in today's more competitive world.

A roundtable of city and local leaders from around the world was also organized, with the Mayors of Svilajnac (Serbia), Pelotas (Brazil), Iriga (Philippines), Spijkenisse (Netherlands), and local Chinese leaders participating in the debate.

The closing speech of the forum was delivered by Toshio Nakamura, President of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Secretary-General of the Japan Association for World Expo 2005 Aichi Japan. He remarked that an important function and legacy of an Expo is advancing new social systems that successfully integrate innovative and ecological technologies that could lead to better cities.

This forum in Shaoxing marks the fifth of the six Expo Theme Forums planned during Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The next one will be held in Hangzhou on "Harmonious City and Livable Life."

(Photos courtesy of EXPO 2010 website – www.expo2010.cn)