(Hong Kong, 21 October 2020) The Greater Bay Area Urban Design Conference, co-organised by The Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design and Greater Bay Area Urban Designer Alliance and sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, will be held online on 25 November, 2020 (Wednesday) and officiated by the Honourable Mrs. Carrie LAM CHENG Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS, The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
As one of the key activities of the HKIUD Greater Bay Area Urban Design Week, the Conference has invited a number of internationally renowned urban design experts and academicians from Australia, the Netherlands and the USA to join with other key urban realm practitioners and decision makers from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) in exchanging important insights for the development of responsive urban design systems that can enhance regional living quality, social equity and wellness thresholds in the GBA.
In June this year, The Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design (HKIUD) together with CURB Center for Architecture and Urbanism – Macau, Guangzhou Urban Planning Association, Urban Planning Society of Shenzhen and the Zhuhai Planning Exploration and Design Industry Association, (“Five Founding Member Institutes”) established the Greater Bay Area Urban Designer Alliance (the Alliance) with the mission to: improve cross-boundary collaboration; develop joint standards and accreditation; and promote the value of quality urban design in improving liveability within the GBA. The inauguration of the Alliance offers practical interaction, discussion and academic exchange among urban thinkers and stakeholders both within the GBA and beyond. Through the enrichment and sharing of knowledge by urban design professionals, a more sustainable model might be adopted, with resultant improvements in livability and the elevation of urban realm quality standards, from which both governments and residents of Hong Kong and other GBA cities could benefit.
Mr. Donald CHOI, President of the HKIUD, highlights the key takeaway of the Greater Bay Area Urban Design Conference as being that, “Global cities are being tested to the extreme under the novel coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing and other precautionary actions are pushing the urban designers on thinking how well cities are planned and managed to cope with the pandemic. In this moment of crisis, we are witnessing the opportunities of cooperation opened for the practitioners of urban design. The HKIUD is working together with the GBA Urban Designer Alliance to play our part by sharing practical experiences, best practices and the common goal of renewing our cities for better healthcare, sustainability and livability. The theme of this year’s conference “Wellbeing through Urban Design : A Critical Action Plan for Mega Region” will provide a platform to align more regional exchanges and cooperation, promote sustainable and liveable urban design and equip our urban designers with advance thinking for evolution and cooperation in the urban planning in the GBA”.
“Wellbeing through Urban Design: A Critical Action Plan for Mega Region” With the collective implications of viral pandemic, climate emergency, ecological breakdown, information revolution, cultural insecurity and ageing demographics forming a perfect storm of disruption that is both massively and rapidly impacting urban and rural populations globally. Seismic shifts in the means of planning, funding, designing and managing our cities and their interactive regions are now anticipated to follow in both the short and medium terms. Such changes will have a profound effect on the viability of many such cities and on the wellbeing of the majority of their urban dwellers. The Greater Bay Area Urban Design Conference will cover the following key strands which aim to address both the current crisis and thinking on future development for mega regions such as the GBA:
• New Modes of Development – Urban Design for Wellness First.
• Global Trends toward Mainstreaming Urban Design in City and Regional Administration;
• Utilising Urban Data – What Are We Measuring? What Don’t We Need, What Are We Missing?
• Ensuring Quality Urban Design through Education and Accreditation; and
• Right Development in the Right Place – Resiliency in the Face of the Unknown.
Opens for Free Online Registration Now.
