They may be worlds apart, but Hong Kong and Barcelona are learning from each other to boost sustainable urban development in the two cities and other urban areas.
Officials from Barcelona and the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design yesterday signed an agreement to launch the Think Tank on Sustainable Urbanism, which will research and promote best practices in urban planning.
The Hong Kong government faces the challenge of transforming its harbourfront into vibrant community spaces - something Barcelona undertook more than 20 years ago when it won the bid to host the 1992 Olympics.
'Where we used to have factories and cranes, now we have museums and places where people can stroll, where people have their leisure. And it's generating a new economy,' the deputy mayor of Barcelona, Antoni Vives, said.
Vives is one of the council members heading the think tank, which comprises professional institutes from Barcelona and experts from Hong Kong groups such as the Institute of Planning and the Green Building Council.
Barcelona is looking to expand its role as an international port by learning from Hong Kong, the world's third-largest container port.