In the international "garden city" contest 2002 in Stuttgart Germany, China's Xiamen and Hangzhou respectively won the first and second place of Group E, both were awarded the title of international "garden city".
Chairman of the judging committee made the announcement at the awarding ceremony on October7.
Starting from 1997, this annual event is sponsored by the International Park and Recreation Association, covering areas of improvement in city's scenery, the management of relics, the practice of environmental protection, mass participation, future plan, and so on.
The whole contest is divided into 5 groups in light of the population scale. Group A consists of cities each with a population of less than 20,000, Group B with a population from 20,000 to 75,000, Group C from 75,000 to 200,000, Group D from 200,000 to 1 million, and Group E each with a population above 1 million. The first three places of each group will win the title of garden city.
Competition of Group E takes place between the biggest cities, representing the highest level of the contest. China's Shenzhen once won the first place of Group E in 2000, and Guangzhou the third.
This year a total of 42 cities from 21 countries have entered the final. And America's Chicago won the third place of Group E.
(People's Daily October 10, 2002)
