On November 8th, 2005, Changde City, along with 14 other cities, won the LivCom Awards in the coastal city of La Coruna, Spain. The LivCom Awards were launched in 1997 and are endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme. LivCom is the world’s only awards competition focusing on best practice regarding the management of the local environment. The objective of LivCom is to improve the quality of life of inPidual citizens through the creation of “liveable communities”. Up to now, only a few cities in China such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou have won this award.