“Human settlements” refers to the building itself and should includes space inside andoutside the building and the surrounding natural environment. The buildingshould be incorporated into this big environment as its organic part which isin harmony with, in conformity with and coexist with the big environment,including residence, work, health, transportation, communication, ecologicalenvironment, culture, entertainment and so on, and the organic combination ofall kinds of physical structure resources which are constructed to maintainthem.   

 

To create agood human settlement is a common concern of the world, and it is an increasingconcern in our country in recent years, especially since year 2005. And thetheme of World Environment Day of this year is “to create global city andprotect our home planet”. Forums related to green, harmonious “Habitat Day” andhuman settlements were all held in this year, and due to the attendance of wellknown experts both at home and abroad, such as Special Advisor of U.N. GeneralSecretary Kofi Annan, UN Under-Secretary General, and the leading authority ofglobal environment industry-Morris·Strong, theseforums had drawn particular attentions. Some innovative concepts and ideas wereissued from the forums frequently.

 

“The sustainable development of globalcivilization mainly depends on the city’s successful transition to the strategyof sustainable development. The progress and scale of urbanization in China is unmatchedby any other place around the world, and there is no signs that this progresswill slow down”, cited U.N. General Secretary Kofi Annan.

 

Zhu Tiezhen, the famous expert on urban issues, Vice president of Urban DevelopmentStrategy Board of China, researcher of Institute of Economy of Chinese Academyof Social Sciences said “in the 21st century, a city that does not providefeasible living condition for modern humans will be eliminated; a city thatconstrains and limits people’s creativity and development will decline”. Hepointed out that “Cities should choose the win-win strategy - developing itseconomy while protecting its environment.”