Experts gathered at the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai on Nov 21 to exchange ideas about how to make urban life better and healthier.

Wang Yu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that urbanization and industrialization offers the opportunity for people to make better use of the resources that surround them and enhance their quality of life. However, the world's ever-expanding metropolises also present major challenges to people in urban areas.

"The poor environment in urban areas has led to a series of health problems," said Wang. "City administrators have to put forward measures to develop better living environments and change people's health conditions."

Yu Yunjiang, deputy director of the China South Institute of Environment, urged decision makers to make more considerations for health issues when preparing city development plans.

"We have to consider the health concept when we set up public policies," said Yu.

Chinese cities have explored a range of different approaches to improve the living quality in urban areas for its citizens. City officials, including those from Yinchuan in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Panzhihua in Sichuan province, attended the conference to share their experiences of building healthy cities over past few years.

"We have made significant breakthroughs in water resources protection and pollution treatments," said Qu Hai, mayor of Chenzhou, Hunan province.

Qu said that Chenzhou has made a name for its thousand years of mining and metal smelting history in China, and is a city known for its nonferrous metal industry.

Yet the city has shifted its focus over the past few years by committed itself to closing down mines to foster a better living environment.

As of November this year, Chenzhou had 90 coal mines and 326 nonferrous metal mines – much less than the 576 coalmines and 747 nonferrous metal mines it had in 2005. And that number is set to drop further this year, according to Qu.

"We have to input something to create a better environment," he said.

One concept earmarked for development in the coming years is vertical city construction, which is aimed at helping large cities to save space and utilizing existing buildings. Vertical cities - the kind being pioneered by Xia Jun, the lead designer of the Shanghai Tower, the world's second-tallest building - refer to super high architectural structures that incorporate multiple layers and carry a range of urban functions such as business, entertainment, art and culture and residences.

"As an international city, Shanghai has to adopt a vertical city development strategy," Xia said. "Vertical development and green concepts do not conflict with each other."