SIPA Professor Leads Chinese Translation of NYC Sustainability Plan

Mayors and other government officials from across China are taking advantage of New York City’s plan for managing long-term growth and sustainability, thanks to the work of SIPA Professor Stephen Hammer and the Joint-US China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

Hammer teaches a graduate seminar on urban energy systems, and previously served as director of the Urban Energy Program at SIPA’s Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy. He joined JUCCCE as Executive Director of their Energy Smart Cities Initiative to turn his research on sustainable cities into practical solutions appropriate for China. 

At SIPA, Hammer and his students spent a great deal of time analyzing New York City’s sustainability strategy, known as PlaNYC 2030. With his encouragement, JUCCCE staff reached out to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office proposing the translation. Hammer’s team in Beijing spent several months translating the 157-page report into Chinese.

More than 200 mayors from throughout China have participated in JUCCCE-led training programs. 

“China’s mayors really want to know what leading international cities are doing to address climate change and other pressing environmental challenges,” said Hammer. “The complexity of New York matches the complexity of their own fast-growing cities, so we’ve found tremendous interest among Chinese government officials in PlaNYC.”

At a recent meeting of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group in Hong Kong, Hammer formally presented the Chinese translation to Mayor Bloomberg, who recently took over as chairman of the consortium. The mayor’s office supported the translation work by providing the original graphic files.

“The C40’s mission is to promote local leadership and action on climate change, so I’m glad to share what is working in New York with mayors across China,” said Bloomberg. “While every city is different, New York City continues to learn from cities around the world, and PlaNYC includes many good ideas mayors may wish to consider.”

http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/news_events/announcements/HammerPLAnycChinese11172010.html