ABSTRACT
Sustainable Cities: Reflections from Hong Kong SAR

Cities are at the forefront of the sustainability transition. They are centres of economic activity, innovation and opportunity, but also places where climate risks, environmental pressures, resource constraints and social inequalities increasingly converge. For rapidly urbanising Asia, the challenge is not simply how to make cities greener, but how to ensure that they remain liveable, resilient and economically vibrant while responding to a changing climate.

Drawing on her experience in Hong Kong SAR and across the region, Prof Christine Loh will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of building sustainable cities in Asia. Using Hong Kong SAR as a lens, she will explore how urban planning, environmental policy, infrastructure, business and finance can come together to shape more sustainable and resilient urban futures.

The lecture will also consider the important role of business and market leaders in driving sustainability beyond their own operations. Through the choices they make in investment, development, design, procurement and resource use, leading organisations can influence markets, raise expectations, encourage innovation and demonstrate what is possible. Their actions can help shift sustainability from being primarily a policy objective to becoming an increasingly embedded practice across industries and society.

The discussion will consider some of the lessons that Hong Kong SAR offers other Asian cities, as well as the areas where cities must rethink conventional approaches to growth and development. It will examine how governments, businesses, academia and communities can work together, and how policy, investment, innovation and leadership can translate sustainability ambitions into meaningful action.

With Singapore and Hong Kong SAR sharing many characteristics as dense, globally connected Asian cities, the lecture will invite the audience to consider: What can cities learn from one another, and what will it take to create urban environments that are not only more sustainable, but better places in which to live, work and thrive?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 

Christine LOH 
Chief Development Strategist

Christine Loh is the Chief Development Strategist at Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She was the Undersecretary for the Environment in the HKSAR Government (2012-17). Between April 2019 and March 2020, she was the Special Consultant to the Office of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR Government on the ecological civilization aspects of the Greater Bay Area Outline Development Plan. She has a long history in public policy and politics, having been a legislator between 1992-2000, and then was the CEO of Civic Exchange, a non-profit public policy think tank.

Professor Loh is currently a board member of Towngas Smart Energy Company Limited, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, and is Asia Society’s Scholar in Residence (2023-2026). She is also a Steering Committee member of the United Nations International Organization for Migration’s new Climate Mobility Innovation Lab, as well as member of the Advisory Committee of the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery at the City University of Hong Kong. She is a published author of many academic and popular works – her latest book by HKUP is on Covid-19 and its socio-economic and political implications. Loh is a lawyer by training, and a commodities trader by profession. She received her legal training in England, and received honorary degrees of Doctor of Law from the University of Hull and Doctor of Science from the University of Exeter. 

Building Sustainable Cities: From Ambition to Action

Abstract:

Sustainable cities cannot be created by governments, businesses or communities working in isolation. As cities face increasing pressures from climate change, resource constraints, urban growth and changing expectations around liveability, the transition towards more sustainable urban environments requires collaboration across sectors and a willingness to move from ambition to implementation.

This panel brings together perspectives from industry, academia and the public sector to examine how sustainability can be embedded into the way cities are planned, developed, financed and managed. The discussion will explore the practical challenges of translating sustainability commitments into decisions—from investment and infrastructure to building design, technology, policy and everyday practices.

The panel will also consider the influence that market leaders can have in accelerating wider change. Through their investment decisions, development practices, supply chains, partnerships and engagement with communities, businesses can help raise standards, encourage innovation and influence sustainability practices well beyond their own organisations. At the same time, effective policy, research and public-sector leadership are essential to creating the conditions in which sustainable solutions can be adopted and scaled.

Against the backdrop of Hong Kong SAR and Singapore as two highly urbanised and globally connected Asian cities, the discussion will explore what can be learned from different approaches and experiences. Panellists will consider where the greatest opportunities for collaboration lie, what barriers continue to slow progress, and how government, business and academia can work together to create cities that are more resilient, inclusive, liveable and sustainable.

Moderated by Prof Adam Switzer, the panel will invite speakers to move beyond broad sustainability commitments and focus on a central question: What will it take to turn the ambition for sustainable cities into meaningful and measurable action?

19 October 2026
4:00pm - 6:30pm
Wee Cho Yaw Auditorium, NTU