The 42th symposium of the Science Forum on “Future City”, organized by Technology Division and Information Technologies & Science Division of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch, operated by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, assisted by Shanghai Minhang District People’s Government, was held on SJTU Minhang campus from May 11 to 13 with the attendance of more than 70 officials and experts, including members of the standing committee of the two divisions and academicians and experts in related fields.

SJTU President Academician Zhang Jie, Deputy head of Minhang District People’s Government Cai Xiaoqing, and Director of the Technology Division of Chinese Academy of Sciences Academician Yang Wei addressed the opening ceremony. Vice President Professor Zhang Wenjun presided over the opening ceremony.

President Zhang Jie said in his address that SJTU stuck to the two major principles of “to meet the nation’s great demands” and “to reach the world’s science frontiers”, encouraged the change from “paper-oriented” researches to "problem-oriented” ones, and strengthened original research on fundamental problems. He pointed out that, combining the innovative idea of “Scientific Expo” and the theme of the Shanghai Expo “Better City, Better Life” the forum provided possible solutions for the challenges future cities might face in information technology, traffic facilities, and energy consumption and development, contributed to find a healthier way of city development, promote a knowledge-driven economic model and the city’s sustainable development.

Academician Yang Wei, director of the Technology Division of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that through free and profound discussion on the science frontiers, hot and important issues, the academicians and experts got inspiration from each other, making it possible for new academic ideas to promote the constant development of science.

Cai Xiaoqing mentioned that the Expo brought new demand to economic development. The Science Forum on “Future City” collects different minds and develops new ideas. Minhang district would like to play the role as the “pathfinder” and carve out new paths for the new ideas and new technologies to future city.

Academicians and experts from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Railways, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, and Tongji University focused on the new condition, problems and trends in future city development and put forward new solutions to these problems. They probed into the current special significant problems in China, which not only has fundamental effect on the innovation of China’s independent core technologies and rapid leaping development of science and technology, but also influences China’s economic construction and social civilization.

This forum will be composed of 10 symposiums, 6 lectures on “Science and China” given by academicians in order to popularize science and interchange activities. These symposiums and lectures will involve topics of science frontier and development strategy, such as urbanization and development mode, information and network, urban mass transit, urban energy technology, and so on.Meanwhile, the Ninth Session of the Fourteenth Committee of the Technology Division of China’s Academy of Sciences and the Ninth Session of the Fourteenth Committee of the Information Technologies & Science Division were also held. Participating academicians and experts visited the brief history exhibition of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.