Shanghai Municipal Housing & Urban-Rural Development Training Delegation and their visit to the UK.

Gavin Watts / 12.12.2025
Last month, Anna undertook tours of Manchester and Salford for the Shanghai Municipal Housing & Urban-Rural Development Training Delegation, exploring the advance of high-quality development of Urban Renewal.
Last month, Anna had the privilege of joining the Shanghai Municipal Housing & Urban-Rural Development Training Delegation during their visit to the UK; a tour organised by UK-China Training Ltd. to advance the high-quality development of Urban Renewal. 
The programme brought a group of 25 planners and architects from Shanghai to explore key regeneration areas in Manchester and London over the course of three weeks. Anna was invited to present on two of the days, one focused on Manchester City Centre and the other on Salford Quays.
The first day centred on the post-war regeneration of Manchester City Centre. In the morning, Anna delivered a presentation at the Friends' Meeting House, followed by a Q&A session. In the afternoon, the group braved the Manchester rain for a walking tour, visiting case study areas including Chapel Wharf, NOMA, Victoria North, Ancoats and New Islington.
On the Friday, the delegation reconvened at Salford Quays, where the weather was far more favourable. Anna presented an overview of the history of the Manchester Docks and their transformation, following closure, into a global media hub. The group visited some of the early residential developments, key projects of the early 2000s (including The Lowry Arts Centre and the Imperial War Museum North), MediaCityUK, and later the waterside developments such as Kargo MKT, which are now being delivered as part of Salford City Council's "Salford Quays: A New Vision 2030" regeneration framework.
It was a pleasure to present about the city where I’ve grown up, and to deepen my own understanding of its regeneration in the last century in the process. Thank you to UK-China Training Ltd for inviting me to present and lead the tours, and to Mr Song for his excellent translating. I really enjoyed meeting everybody and hope myself and Define can partake again in the future.