The 5th Urban Culture in the Process of Urban Redevelopment: Experience of East Asia “Global City and Local Culture” was successfully held in Tongli On November 1st 2014. The forum was jointly organized by WHITRAP and Department of Sociology-Fudan University with the support of Tongli Township Government, Suzhou.

Nowadays, global city (also called world city) is a city generally considered to be an important node in the global economic system. However, the process of globalization brings about homogenization of the local cultures. This International Symposium focuses on the relationship between globalization and localization in the process of urban redevelopment, reflects on the role of historic/cultural resources in global city building and highlights the experience on urban heritage conservation and renovation, etc. Professors and experts from Rikkyo University (Japan), University of Seoul (South Korea), Tongji University and Fudan University (China) have extensively discussed on the above topics and issues.

The forum was initially launched together by Fudan University, Rikkyo University (Japan) and University of Seoul (Korea) in 2010, aimed at promoting the comparative study of urban culture in East Asia, especially the research and comparison of the development of cultural trends such as creative industries and the preservation of the cultural landscapes of old parts of cities which have emerged in the context of urban redevelopment that has swept the globe since the 1990s.