ＵＣＬＧ Ｃｏ－Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ ａｎｄ Ｇｕａｎｇｚｈｏｕ Ｍａｙｏｒ Ｚｈａｎｇ Ｇｕａｎｇｎｉｎｇ Ａｔｔｅｎｄｓ Ｆｏｕｒｔｈ Ｗｏｒｌｄ Ｕｒｂａｎ Ｆｏｒｕｍ ｉｎ Ｎａｎｊｉｎｇ

TThe 4th World Urban Forum， with the theme of “Harmonious Urbanization”， was held in Nanjing on November 3， 2008. Participating in the event were nearly 4，000 people from home and abroad including three heads of state and over twenty ministers. The World Urban Forum is an important international forum on global urban development sponsored by the UN-Habitat. Zhang Guangning， mayor of Guangzhou， attended the opening ceremony in his capacity as co-president of the UCLG and vice president of the China Association of Mayors and made a keynote speech at the plenary session. Zhang Guangning stated that in order to effectively solve urban problems of over-population， lack of resources， and environment pollution， the leading role of local governments should be given full play. He stressed that Guangzhou is willing to join the efforts of the local governments of all countries in the world and the international community to create mutually beneficial and complimentary relations between rural and urban areas， tradition and innovation， localities and the globe， and jointly build harmonious cities.