Why China’s new urban playbook creates business opportunities for international architects

China’s move to build “functional”, “economical” and “ sustainable” cities will offer big business opportunities to international architectural firms who can provide professional knowledge and advice on urban planning to local authorities, says architectural firm Aedas chairman Keith Griffiths.

Griffiths, whose company has been expanding in China in the past decade, is upbeat on the directive on urban planning issued by the State Council last month. The directive lays out the development guidelines for local authorities in implementing urban design.

China has been gaining little out of controls in urbanisation, said Griffiths. The directive aims to stop local authorities from selling off land without proper planning, he said.

The central government now requires urbanisation to be better planned. Because of the new approach, Griffiths sees huge business opportunities in the world’s second-largest economy.

“We will have more master planning work. We will be expanding our urban team to develop urban planning for local authorities, not just for developers.”

READ MORE: Megalopolis: the future of urban planning in China

Aedas is one of the largest global architecture and design practices with offices worldwide.