News & Events

Lectures & Seminars

Flourishing Cities Research Seminar Series

“Monstrous Politics: Revolutionary Urbanism in Mexico City”

Speaker: Prof. Ben Gerlofs (HKU, Department of Geography)

Venue: Rm. 4.36 Faculty of Arts, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU
Date & Time: 11:00 – 12:30, Friday 13 November 2025 

Abstract:

Mexico City’s long twentieth century was structed by several yet ongoing revolutions, from the bloody and protracted wars over control of the capital and the country to waves of explosive urban expansion and demographic growth that transformed the ‘City of Palaces’ into one of the world’s largest and most unwieldy megacities. This presentation will provide an overview of this revolutionary century through a spatial historiography of the two great ‘monsters’ of the period, the city itself and the political party that sought to control and to govern it, the Partido Revolucionario Institutional. This historical geography will interrogate both the emergence and navigation of several major conflicts and crises as well as their enduring legacies and contemporary manifestations.

Register here.

Research Seminar Series 2025/26

(In-person Only)

Monstrous Politics: Revolutionary Urbanism in Mexico City (Prof. Ben Alan GERLOFS)

13 NOV  2025 (Thur) | 11am | Rm 4.36, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU 

Liangzhu: The Value of Ancient Capital Planning and its Contemporary Significance (Prof. CAO Kang)

04 DEC 2025 (Thur) | 11am | Rm 4.36, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU 

Regional Design: Spatial Order of Chang’an Area in the Tang Dynasty and Its Lasting Legacy (Prof. GUO Lu)

12 FEB 2026 (Thur) | 11am | Venue: HKU

On Display: Postcards, Projection, and Performance in Colonial Asia-Pacific (Prof. William SHIVERS)

05 MAR 2026 (Thur) | 11am | Venue: HKU

A Divergence: The Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance HK (1976) and the Burra Charter Australia (1979) (Prof. SHU Changxue)

16 APR 2026 (Thur) | 11am | Venue: HKU 

Past Events

Round Table Discussion: “Postgraduate Research Student Roundtable on Urban History with Drs. Ji Li & Samuel Chen”

Speaker: Dr Ji Li & Dr Samuel Chen

Venue: Display Area, May Hall, HKU
Date & Time: 10:30 – 12:00, Friday 13 September 2024 

This roundtable provides a space to present and discuss your PhD topics. You will each be asked to do a short presentation (10 minutes) on either the main themes of your thesis as a whole, a chapter or section, or an article that you might be thinking of submitting. The roundtable will provide the opportunity for you to receive some feedback and also to explore some broader themes in urban history that are being studied at HKU or other universities in Hong Kong.

The roundtable will be led by Ji Li, Ph.D. and Dr Yi Samuel Chen, D.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong

Public Lecture: “Cities, Museums, and Memories: Urban Heritage in Global Context”

Speaker: Dr Shengyu Wang 

Venue: Lecture Hall, May Hall, HKU
Date & Time: 16:00 – 17:30, Friday 13 September 2024

A century after the establishment of the Palace Museum in 1925, a museum 2,000km to the south at the Victoria Harbour arises in 2022 to present the finest objects among the 1.86 million in the Beijing collection. Beginning with introducing the making of the Hong Kong Palace Museum and its architectural design by Rocco, this talk discusses challenges of the museum which houses 5,000 years of history but targets a global audience who lack a collective memory of the Chinese culture.

As a ‘baby’ urban heritage, the museum, like other rising public venues, innovates interpretations of ancient art and archaeological discoveries, and contributes to the identity, cultural landscape, and evolving memory of the city. Interestingly, this relates to another question of balancing loans from cultural institutions around the world, and the acquisition need of the young museum. Weaving the history of collecting in Hong Kong into the discussion, this talk reflects upon the role of cosmopolitan museums like HKPM in the cultural and economic development of the city and Greater China at large. With an inter-disciplinary brush, the talk reveals how museums can strengthen the local cultural legacy and improve a shared understanding of art and history in global context.

Conferences & Symposia

International Symposium: “Cities in Crises”

Speaker: Professor Carola Hein
Venue: Lecture Theatre, May Hall, HKU
Date & Time: 09:00 – 18:30, Saturday 14 September 2024

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.

Reading Group & Research Workshop

Reading Group & Research Workshop
Venue: Room 201, May Hall, HKU
Time: 12:00 – 14:00

Dates:
  • Session 1: Friday 29 September 2023
  • Session 2: Friday 27 October 2023
  • Session 3: Friday 24 November 2023
  • Session 4: Friday 26 January 2024
  • Session 5: Friday 23 January 2024
  • Session 6: Friday 29 January 2024