Synopsis

The conference aims to bring a group of urban and planning historians and urban studies scholars in Asia and other regions to the University of Hong Kong to explore the issues of urban resilience and crisis management of historical and contemporary cities and urban regions in Asia and other part of the world during periods of public health crises, natural and climate-related disasters, social unrest, economic uncertainties, and war and international conflicts. Speakers are invited to approach the theme from the perspectives of urban planning and design, urban governance, and daily life, and analyse successes and failures in how cities have prepared for and handled crises, orchestrated post-crises restoration, and initiated systemic and structural changes. The topics could cover infrastructure and transport, supply chains and logistics, housing, demographic composition and movement, public facilities and services, institutional structure, social organisation, multi-level governance (national, regional, municipal, and international), data management, technological adaptation, media and communication, and knowledge sharing and training. We hope that this symposium will contribute to a broader and deeper understanding of how historical and contemporary cities and urban regions have learned to develop systems, structures, strategies, and capacity through multilevel and cross-sectoral engagement and collaboration for improving emergency-preparedness to more effectively pre-empt, manage, and recover from a wide range of crises. We also hope that the symposium will contribute to reflections on planning and design, governance, and different functions of cities to achieve better urban institutional, public health, social-economic, and environmental and climate resilience and sustainability.