During December 11-13, 2010, the 2nd Xiamen International Forum on Urban Environment & 2010 International Congress on Urban Environment is being held at theInstitute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences. About 100 experts from 12 countries and regions, including the USA, UK, Canada,Germany, Japan, Holland, Norway, Belgium and China, have gathered in Xiamen to exchange disparate ideas and merge their different perspectives into a more powerful common vision that will have a huge impact on China’s urban environmental researh. They will focus on new methodsand theories In international urban development research. More than 20 famous international scholars are in attendance, including Andrew Smith, Academician of the Australian National Academy of Sciences; Hans Opschoor, National Royal Academician of the Dutch Academy of Sciences; Dr David Parrish, Earth System Research Laboratory, NOAA; Allen Kearns, Deputy Chief of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems; Dr Willy Verstraete, Department Head of Biochemical and Microbial Technology, Ghent University; and Dr Nancy Grimm, Co-Director of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Project.