Hi all!

I have a question for my thesis. Does Kunming have any written plans/goals concerning the effects of its fast urbanisation (f.e. air pollution, Urban heat island effect)? And if so, what does it say or can it be found in English?

Thanks a lot!

If you are doing this in conjunction with a local university, your supervisor should be able to act as guide. I would firstly check with the city planning institute to see what plans have been made public, to see if what you want even exists. I doubt there is anything in English, why would there be?

However, if you are researching independently, any reason you give for wanting this information needs to be compatible with your visa. I am not sure if researching your thesis can fit under a tourist visa.

Also be aware a lot of government information is considered as state secrets in China. This includes geographic information. Mapping may also get you into difficulty.

There is at least one post doctoral researcher here in Kunming. It might be worth starting a separate thread, seeking other researchers for advice.

Additional thought. You could advertise for, and pay, a local post grad student (don't bother with an undergrad) to do a days deep internet search to look for papers or other documents. A post grad student should know their way around online research in China.

You will need to sit behind them while they do this, to answer questions and keep them on task. If they find nothing in a day, there probably isn't anything. The focus should be on trawling, not analysis, you can do that in slow time.

Well,as a student major in Physics in Yunnan University,I think you can find an something useful in my school,although I can not answer your question accurately.One of my friends study in the School of Ecology and Environmental Science YNU and he mentioned that it's a big research project about the enviroment of Kunming such as governance of the Dian Lake in Yunnan Province and of course your first question is also one aspect of the big research project.I think you may find something in my school's net.

I work together with a local university, and I have asked it today :) I'm just a person who always want to work on my own :p

Anyway, thanks!

In China, most doors will be closed without a gatekeeper. I do mean closed, and you won't even know it. Use the universities connections and relationships to the full extent. The university will steer you away from politically sensitive issues and the problems that can bring. Environmental issues are a hot topic, and people in the field in this province have been jailed for not doing their jobs. You only have a finite amount of time, use all the help you can get. Remember it is not what you know, but who you know.

I do think this place does still exists, although getting answers you are looking for in English may be difficult. They may be able to point you in the right direction though:

www.gokunming.com/[...]

Ok thanks!! I will trust the local university for finding the correct information! I knew China did not give information easily, but I hoped that they would be more generous about the care of the environment. But we will see :)

Kunming urban city department had/has a collaboration with the ETH Zuerich. there's definitely information in English available, not sure how recent. Urban development plans usually go over more than 20 years, so it doesn't matter if it's a few years old.

There's international companies involved to help with waste water recycling, those reports as well are written in English.

The issue is more how much do the developers and real estate companies stick to the rules rather than if there's any consideration of those topics. (in my experience working as designer for developers for several years).

urban heat island effect is not considered a real or very urgent issue, especially not with a lake that size nearby and being located on a plateau. But that's just what i was told, and it was either true, either in favour of my employers to say that, or they simply had no idea and needed to say something.

if you go to the urban planning department next to the PSB (the one mentioned earlier by gokmg), get an appointment, bring an interpreter and see what they say. in some meetings there, we met ppl with excellent English. i found the ppl there very friendly and helpful. Urban planning design is not a national secret.

Kunming does have a future development plan and is well aware of their issues. as any other city in the world, economic values and ideal urban design do not always go together for a long time.

good luck with your thesis!