June 18, 2012 — Under a starry sky over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the eve of the grand opening of the United Nations "Rio+20" Summit on Sustainable Development, the highest honor in the global human settlements field was unveiled. The award ceremony for the "Global Human Settlements Planning and Design Award" — jointly and authoritatively presented by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) — was held in grand style. Political leaders from over 100 countries, leaders of international organizations, and representatives of top institutions gathered in this passionate city to witness this global event, often hailed as the "Oscar of Human Settlements."

In fierce competition, two pioneering exemplary projects stood out among world-class contenders, becoming outstanding benchmarks that interpret the summit's theme, "The Future We Want": The Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Station in Morocco, which reshapes desert ecology with clean energy technology, demonstrating the power of green technology; and the "Conservation and Renewal of the Western Sichuan Linpan Settlements Project" in China, designed by our firm. This project won unanimous acclaim from the jury for decoding the ecological wisdom of a millennia-old farming civilization and innovatively and dynamically preserving traditional settlements. By integrating the ecological DNA of Western Sichuan Linpan — "fields, woodlands, courtyards, and water systems" — into modern rural planning, the project achieves a symbiotic win-win among cultural preservation, ecological restoration, and livelihood improvement through low-intervention design. It provides a textbook Chinese solution for global vernacular sustainable development and won the top honor with its profound influence.

Liu Weibing, Chairman of our firm, took the stage as the award recipient to deliver a speech. He eloquently expounded on the Eastern philosophy of "harmony between heaven and humanity" embodied in the Western Sichuan Linpan project, emphasized the urgency of protecting local cultural heritage amid rapid urbanization, and called on the international community to jointly explore pathways for integrating traditional wisdom with modern innovation: "This honor belongs to the Chinese farmers who have safeguarded their homeland for generations, and to our global peers who have dedicated themselves to sustainable development. We will use design as a bridge, letting ancient civilization illuminate the path toward a shared future for humanity!" His stirring words resonated throughout the audience, as the cultural confidence and mission-driven commitment of Chinese design shone brightly on the world stage at that moment.