Programme: Summer Internship Programme in Guangzhou
Partner Organization: Guangzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau
Period: June 1 – August 1, 2019
It was meaningful and unforgettable for doing an internship in the Planning and Designing Institute of Guangzhou. During the two months, I learnt about the system and regulations of planning in mainland China, as well as did some research on specific planning topics like urban wetland park planning, community planning and the elevated walkway system. Besides sitting in the office, I also visited some creative industry parks in the Big Bay Area. The trip was well prepared and guided by the Career Guidance Centre of Guangzhou, which offered many resources on employment for graduate students.
The most impressive part of this experience was to meet excellent and professional people in my fields and learnt from them. My director was good at training new comers and gave me lots of helpful advice on doing research and writing. My colleagues were also nice and patient. We discussed daily topics and the future of urban planning.
This experience also widened my knowledge about other cities in the world. When planning for a new project in a city, we not only analyse the condition of the city but also study other successful cases, which was my main job during my internship. I studied wetland conservation in London and the system of community planners in Taiwan, then concluded some points which would be helpful to improve the urban area of Guangzhou.
In addition to learnt from the cases in developed cities, my colleagues also encouraged me to put forward my own opinions towards the development of Guangzhou. It is important as cities in China are much different in terms of the scale of population and people’s preferences.
Policies work in other cities may not work here, so planners should always think both globally and locally.