The design of Sheffield could be repeated in China thanks to a project that will bring east and west together.
Sheffield’s new council leader Julie Dore has given her approval to the project, which involves a group of the city’s architects taking their designs and ideas to planners and developers in the Chinese city of Chengdu.
She said: “As the new leader of the council, we strongly support the Sheffield in Chengdu project. I hope to have the opportunity to visit our sister city in the future and build on the important links which have already been developed between the two cities.”
The Sheffield consortium will show the award-winning regeneration that has taken place in the city over the past decade, and present how this can be applied to the new development in China.
Alan Ren, who is leading the consortium, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to take the qualities that make Sheffield special to China and I am honoured to be leading the consortium. We are pleased to have received a lot of support from the city’s political leaders and businesses and we hope that this will be the start of an exciting project for both Sheffield and our sister city Chengdu.”
It is hoped the visit will lead to long term opportunities for Sheffield’s private sector and create extra jobs in the region as well as promote tourism between the city and China, which has one of the world’s fastest growing economies.