People attend the City for Tomorrow Forum in Xiamen, Fujian Province. Photo: Courtesy of Xiao Min

Over 20 experts and cultural scholars gathered in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, for a forum delving into the relationship between art and urban renewal. 

The City for Tomorrow conference aimed to explore the urban renewal plans being carried out in many Chinese cities and how these are being combined with culture and art. 

According to these experts and scholars, it has become an international consensus that culture is an important driving force for urban development. The construction of a cultural city with artistic characteristics is an inevitable demand for urbanization in China. 

"Art is the most organic part of culture, and the most agile atmosphere of a city," said Zhao Shaohua, former vice minister of culture. 

Art can define the character of a city and reflect the local atmosphere, characteristics and humanistic care within an urban center. 

"Cities are the carriers of cultural and emotional memory. Strengthening historical and cultural protection, paying attention to the inheritance and continuity of civilization and retaining the traditional construction mechanisms and cultural features of the city should be goals," said Fan Di'an, president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and adviser of the City for Tomorrow Forum.

Wang Daheng, chairman of the China Construction Culture and Art Association, believes that "the development and prosperity of cities cannot be separated from the construction of culture and art. The main body of a city is made up of various architectural art, public art and environmental art."

Besides the forum, the Kulangsu Center for Contemporary Art also kicked off its young artists project, which features new media arts from four young artists. 

The related upcoming exhibition will also include top artists such as Xu Bing, Zhan Wang, Song Dong and Chen Wenling.