Faculty of Architecture, HKU

27/10/2026

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀, 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲
The Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning is pleased to invite you to the CUSUP Research Seminar that will be held on 5 November 2026 (Thursday) from 13:00 to 14:00 at KB829, 8/F., Knowles Building, HKU.
*Pre-registration required. [Deadline: 4 November 2026 (Wednesday) 12:00 noon (HKT)]
Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=110132
𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
Platforms, Cultural Production, and the Remaking of Urban Space
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor Jinliao He
Professor,
Institute of Urban Development,
East China Normal University
𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲:
Date: 5 November 2026 (Thursday)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00
Venue: KB829, 8/F, Knowles Building, HKU
𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁:
Although the creative economy is increasingly platform-dependent, this shift remains under-theorized in geography. Drawing on case studies of freelance photographers and musicians in Shanghai, this presentation examines how digital platforms simultaneously restructure creative labor and reshape urban space. Findings reveal a core duality. As market innovators, platforms democratize entry and extend local buzz across trans-local networks, while still relying on situated urban encounters. Conversely, as social factories, they deepen labor precarity through algorithmic surveillance and gamified metrics. Meanwhile, platform-mediated creativity spills into cities, generating internet-famous streets and entrepreneur ecosystems that governments leverage for urban renewal, albeit risking commodified authenticity.
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor Jinliao He is a Professor at the Institute of Urban Development, East China Normal University. His research focuses on creative cities, cultural production, urban governance, and spatial planning. He authored the monograph Creative Industry Districts (Springer) and has published over 80 papers in journals including Regional Studies, Urban Studies, Geoforum, and Cities.
~~ ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME ~~
Enquiries: email at [email protected] or by phone at 3917 2721
CENTRE OF URBAN STUDIES AND URBAN PLANNING
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

26/10/2026

𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮
The Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning is pleased to invite you to the CUSUP Research Seminar that will be held on 10 November 2026 (Tuesday) from 10:30 to 12:00 at KB829, 8/F., Knowles Building, HKU.

*Pre-registration required. [Deadline: 9 November 2026 (Monday) 12:00 noon (HKT)]
Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=110002
𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
Cities as AI Governance Actors in Southeast Asia
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor Orlando Woods
Professor,
College of Integrative Studies,
Singapore Management University
𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲:
Date: 10 November 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 10:30 to 12:00
Venue: KB829, 8/F, Knowles Building, HKU
𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁:
Throughout the world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping a variety of urban domains. Cities are both recipients – and assumed beneficiaries – of investments in AI infrastructure, and sites of AI experimentation, application, and contestation. These ideas are particularly resonant in Southeast Asia, a region experiencing both rapid urbanisation and significant AI-related investment entwined with broader geopolitical power plays. The problem, however, is governance. Or lack thereof. Throughout Southeast Asia, AI governance is typically implemented at the national level, which references frameworks developed by ASEAN and other intergovernmental organisations like the OECD and UNESCO. Even then, the application of these frameworks remains fragmented, embryonic, and ineffective. Moreover, these frameworks typically espouse high-level ethical principles that offer limited, contextually-grounded guidance for municipal governments facing the social and environmental consequences of AI deployment. Cities must therefore be recognised as integral AI governance actors in Southeast Asia. As sites of dwelling, business, and public administration, they are responsive to the needs of their stakeholders in ways that national governments could never be. We argue that Southeast Asia’s cities are critical nodes through which more inclusive AI governance practices can be forged. We propose a three-dimensional framework for inclusion that integrates upstream co-production, situated everyday practices, and downstream adaptation. This more relational understanding of AI governance can pave the way for new understandings of urban inclusion in an AI-endemic world.
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor Orlando Woods is Professor of Geography at SMU, where he also serves as Associate Provost (Research Strategy) and Director of the SMU Urban Institute. His interdisciplinary research agenda considers a variety of questions concerning data-driven urban transformation, infrastructure-led development, and social complexity in South and Southeast Asian cities. He holds PhD and BA degrees in Geography from the National University of Singapore and University College London respectively.
~~ ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME ~~
Enquiries: email at [email protected] or by phone at 3917 2721
CENTRE OF URBAN STUDIES AND URBAN PLANNING
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

22/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴

As our city faces evolving social, demographic, and environmental challenges, how can we create homes and communities that are more affordable, liveable, and sustainable?

Join a distinguished panel of experts for an engaging conversation to explore ideas shaping Hong Kong’s housing future.

📅 𝟭𝟮 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 (𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆)
🕖 𝟳:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 – 𝟴:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠
📍 𝗥𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀
• Ar. Prof. Donald Choi Wun-hing, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Urban Renewal Authority
• Prof. Ling Kar-kan, Chairman, Hong Kong Housing Society
• Sr Prof. Augustine Wong Ho-ming, Executive Director, Henderson Land Development Company Limited; Legislative Council Member (Real Estate and Construction)

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀
• Prof. Lennon Choy, Associate Head (External Liaison), Department of Real Estate and Construction
• Prof. He Shenjing, Head, Department of Urban Planning and Design
• Prof. Kelvin Wong, Executive Associate Dean, Faculty of Architecture
• Prof. Zhu Jin, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
https://www.arch.hku.hk/event_/the-future-of-housing-in-hong-kong/

HKU Department of Real Estate and Construction
HKU Department of Urban Planning and Design

21/10/2026

“𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮” 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶 | 𝟮 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲, 𝟲:𝟯𝟬–𝟴:𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺 | 𝗞𝗕𝟯𝟭𝟴, 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝗱𝗴., 𝗛𝗞𝗨
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Register from link in bio via Linktree
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Lecture Abstract:
Visions for a future of unlimited possibility abounded in the period of political liberation and decolonization across the African continent. Ghana gained independence from British rule in 1957; in 1960, the “Year of Africa,” seventeen African nations achieved political autonomy from European colonial powers. These events sparked a wave of experimentation in music, the visual arts, and, notably, modern architecture, which played a significant role as newly independent African countries sought to project a forward-looking, progressive, and cosmopolitan self-image. Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa, an exhibition currently on view at MoMA, focuses on the architecture of seven countries in coastal western Africa.

This lecture introduces the key tenets and curatorial vision behind the exhibition. Among them are the question of how architects and political leaders sought to Africanize modern architecture, and to what degree the concept of Pan-Africanism shaped a worldview that was at the same time cosmopolitan and rooted in the region’s specific cultural context.
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Biography:
Martino Stierli is The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. He is the author of Montage and the Metropolis: Architecture, Modernity and the Representation of Space (2018) and Las Vegas in the Rearview Mirror: The City in Theory, Photography, and Film (2013). At MoMA, he has, among other things, curated a trilogy of exhibitions looking at modernist architecture in a global postcolonial context: Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980 (2018), The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985 (2022), and Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa (2026).
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Photo credits in the comment session.

16/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 ‘𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁’ 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆
The Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning is pleased to invite you to the CUSUP Research Seminar that will be held on 10 November 2026 (Tuesday) from 13:00 to 14:30 at KB829, 8/F., Knowles Building, HKU.
*Pre-registration required. [Deadline: 9 November 2026 (Monday) 10:00 am (HKT)]
Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109872
𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
Thinking with the ‘future present’ planetary city
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor May Ee Wong
Assistant Professor,
Department of Media and Culture Studies,
Utrecht University
𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲:
Date: 10 November 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 13:00 to 14:30
Venue: KB829, 8/F, Knowles Building, HKU
𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁:
What might contemporary cultural representations and discourses of the techno-organic city reflect of the changing constitution of architecture and the city as environmental data and vice versa? Drawing upon architect-filmmaker Liam Young’s science-fictional short film Planet City (2020) and his notion of the ‘future present’, this talk theorizes on the contemporary city which features the integration of various logistical forms of digital sensor-driven technology and infrastructural technologies of elemental speculation and transformation in its construction and constitution. I genealogically situate it in debates on planetary urbanization in urban theory/studies, critical discussions on infrastructure in environmental media and humanities and the claims and designs of developmental ‘Smart-Eco’ cities. Here, I reflect on these urban discourses and imaginaries with respect to architecture’s evolving relationship with contemporary media technologies in figuring urban space.
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Professor May Ee Wong is Assistant Professor of Urban and Mobile Media in the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the “Design and Aesthetics for Environmental Media” project at Aarhus University and in the Asian Urbanisms cluster at Asia Research Institute. Her work has been published in Media+Environment and Climates: Architecture and the Planetary (Columbia GSAPP, 2016). She is co-editor of LIMN 15: The Great Offshore (with Michaela Büsse, Gökçe Gunel and Jamie L. Jones) and is working on a book manuscript tentatively titled Planetary Urban Futures: Scale as Infrastructural Frontier (EUP).
~~ ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME ~~
Enquiries: email at [email protected] or by phone at 3917 2721
CENTRE OF URBAN STUDIES AND URBAN PLANNING
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

15/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗿𝗶 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮'𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗶 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿:
Wellage Chandima Silva
PhD Candidate Division of Landscape Architecture
𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁:
Dr. Putrikinasih Ririh Santoso,
Senior Research Assistant, Department of Architecture
𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲:
Date: 19-Nov-2026 (Thursday)
Time: 13:00-14:15
Venue: KB719, 7/F., Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong,
𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁
The Mahaweli Development Programme, a large irrigation and hydropower infrastructure development initiative, operated through an architecture of absence that transformed political questions of land, sovereignty, and belonging into technical problems of planning and implementation. This twentieth-century, multi-decade project reveals how postcolonial development operated simultaneously as a project of national sovereignty and as a mechanism of internal colonization and global dependency. The programme’s modernist infrastructure projected Sri Lankan modernity to international donors while deepening dependency on foreign capital and expertise.

This presentation shares ongoing research, offering a critical look at archival sources from the Mahaweli authority to narrate how the architecture of absence was enacted. The architecture of absence captures how the infrastructures and settlements produced built form while systematically erasing and withholding completion. These take the form of towns that were never constructed, water that barely reached tail-end farmers, traditional knowledge that was heritage-ized rather than engaged, and customary land rights that were erased through demographic engineering. Through the registers of selective completion, deferred promise, infrastructural erasure, and territorial erasure, I show how the Mahaweli project’s uneven outcomes were patterned effects of political choices that privileged nationalist territorial claims, Western technological expertise, and donor-directed capital over traditional forms of architectural and landscape knowledge, customary land rights, and the everyday lives of marginalized communities.
𝗕𝗶𝗼
Chandima is a PhD candidate at the Department of Architecture and Division of Landscape Architecture in The University of Hong Kong. His dissertation is on Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli Development Programme and its architecture of absence – that which is unbuilt, incomplete, and erased. He holds a Bachelor’s in Asian Studies and a Master’s in Planning from the University of British Columbia. He’s worked in Canada and Sri Lanka as a planner and independent consultant.

13/10/2026

13/10/2026

09/10/2026

𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 | 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥: 𝗟𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 | 𝟮𝟮.𝟭𝟬 — 𝟭𝟴.𝟭𝟮.𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 | 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺, 𝗨𝗚/𝗙 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝗱𝗴., 𝗛𝗞𝗨
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 celebrates the legacy of Lo Pan (魯班), the revered ancient Chinese master builder whose enduring spirit embodies excellence and ingenuity across the built environment professions. Centred on an innovative open-model display of the Lo Pan Temple (魯班先師廟) in Hong Kong, progressively constructed throughout the exhibition, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 invites visitors to experience the exquisite details of the historic structure and its award-winning restoration, while witnessing contemporary techniques of “making” up close.

The exhibition space is transformed into a digital fabrication laboratory, where traditional conservation meets geospatial technologies, 3D scanning and advanced manufacturing, revealing new dimensions of craft and cultural heritage in the age of digital intelligence.
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Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, closed on public holidays
Enquiries: [email protected]