Resources

Urban Age is a series of international conferences which are aimed to shape the thinking and practice of urban leaders. The two-year conference series is the first step towards the creation of an ongoing forum which will debate and influence how cities are studied, planned and managed.

The series operates as a mobile laboratory, testing and sampling the urban condition using a combination of expert presentations, site visits and opportunities for informal information exchanges. Results are then analysed and regional patterns and global similarities are hoped to help shape the future development of cities and the processes that sustain them.

Over two years conferences have been held in Shanghai, London, New York and other cities. Conferences and publications can be downloaded in MP3 format and as PDF’s by going to the Urban Age website. Please click here.

Emporis Buildings is one of the world's largest available platforms concerning building-related information. Here you find buildings, companies and photos in more than 50,000 cities worldwide.

Emporis Buildings allows users and companies from all over the world to participate in the completion of building information in their own cities.

For direct link to website click on the image above or here

ChinesePod provides a convenient way to learn Mandarin Chinese.

ChinesePod offers a fresh alternative to out of date textbooks and the inconvenient classroom instruction.

Lessons are short, focused, and practical. They offer useful language, cultural insights, humorous anecdotes, and much more.

Audio lessons are available from expert teachers and are delivered automatically to your computer, iPod or mp3 player, every day. You listen whenever you wish – at the gym, on the bus, on your lunch-break, etc.

For all budding architects, designers and artists - I highly reommend Pecha Kucha Night - Shanghai Vol. 2 was great fun! See below for short synopsis from website:

'The Japanese term 'Pecha Kucha' roughly translates as 'chit-chat.' Up to fourteen participants get to show 20 slides for 20 seconds each, meaning the audience experiences an exhilarating range of speakers and images over the course of the evening. There's also music, drinking and the inevitable exchange of ideas that occurs when you get so many architects, designers, artists and so on together in the same room.'

Certainly worth a look if you are interested in broadening your interests and finding new design inspiration. They have a good section on the arts around Shanghai from traditional to contemporary art and design.

www.smartshanghai.com/art

Very useful forum dedicated to the built environment. Unfortunately it's all in Chinese but there are some interesting images galleries of people's work from competitions to diary accounts of construction on site!

www.abbs.com.cn

Well worth a look!