Spaces, bike paths and trendy city things

He had a wide smile when he said it, but it had to hurt all the same. As Jason Hu, the mayor of Tai-chung, addressed a morning session at Global City 2009 yesterday, he told an audience that at first glance Abu Dhabi might not have much in common with the city in west-central Taiwan. But six years ago, the Guggenheim Museum chose Taichung as the location for an Asian Pacific branch.

"Because of an unexpected financial situation, the Guggenheim decided to move away from building in Taichung to Abu Dhabi," Mr Hu said. "We wish you all the best!" The loss of a major cultural attraction aside, Mr Hu was among many leaders who came to tell what they had done to ensure their cities were sustainable. In Taichung, for example, the number of bike paths laid over the past six years has increased by 3,500 per cent.

Birmingham, which will be the first ethnic majority city in the UK within five years, has adopted a "Big City Plan" with no end date. That is because its improbable efforts to become one of the world's most liveable cities, said Clive Dutton, the director of planning and regeneration, are part of "a never-ending story". London is also trying to make some of its spaces more "human". It has even removed barriers to people crossing certain streets despite fears it would lead to pedestrian deaths. It did not, said Peter Bishop, group director of design, development and environment, London Development Agency.

"You can design spaces but you can't really predict what will happen in spaces; that is up to the individual," he said. "It is those strange things that happen in those spaces that give cities their richness." The conference continues today. [e-mail]