The urbanization has caused problems in many Chinese cities. They have identical commercial centers, a huge influx of commuters during rush hour and air polluted by vehicle emissions, according to Kuang Hongguang, executive deputy dean of the China Industry Clusters Research Institute.

Kuang delivered his speech on September 5 at the Third Global Economic Leaders Summit in Changchun, Jilin Province. He spoke as one of millions of Beijing residents, who are suffering from the problems of rapid urbanization.

"The layout of the city is rather irrational as it is not people-centered and it is mainly focused on real estate," he said.

According to Kuang, the government has paid too much attention on real estate development for the sake of the economic growth. Much of Beijing's historic architecture, for example the courtyards in Beijing's Hutongs (narrow lanes), have been demolished.

He then took Tokyo, Japan and Gothenburg, Sweden as two examples to argue that the urbanization needs to be carefully planned.

"In Tokyo, each lane is well designed and in Gothenburg, trash needs to be categorized into eight trash bins."

"Many houses of the Gothenburg have been preserved for hundreds of years."

GELS, an international cooperation summit, was initiated by the Asia-Pacific CEO Association (APCEO) and co-hosted by relevant governments. Hosted in Jilin Province, the conference focuses on opportunities in China's sustainable urbanization for global cooperation and it will also study previous urbanization experiences from around the world.

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