CityU hosts the 2025 International Forum on Urban Science: Experts share insights for urban sustainability
To celebrate the 44th anniversary of City University of Macau (CityU) and the official establishment of the Institute for Urban and Sustainable Development (IUSD), CityU is hosting the 2025 International Forum on Urban Science today (28th). The two-day forum gathers urban science experts, scholars, and practitioners from around the world to share cutting-edge insights on the theme “Historical Legacy and Modern Visions: Sustainable Urban Development in Metropolitan Areas,” contributing to global wisdom. This forum features multiple sub-forums. On the first day, the Master’s Forum will be led by several internationally renowned experts at the academician level. Tomorrow will continue with the Greater Bay Area Enterprise Forum, the Greater Bay Area Dean’s Forum, the Young and Senior Scholars’ Forum, and the Student’s Forum, bringing together business leaders, deans, young scholars, and students to explore research achievements, innovative practices, and future development orientation in urban sustainability.
At the opening ceremony, Rector Jun Liu emphasized that the establishment of the Institute for Urban and Sustainable Development (IUSD) represented a crucial step for CityU in serving national strategies and the development needs of the Macao SAR, as well as a key step in advancing urban science studies. He highlighted Macao’s unique urban ecology, shaped by the harmonious coexistence of diverse civilizations at the convergence of Eastern and Western cultures. He mentioned that the comprehensive advancement of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s “one-hour living circle,” and city development through resource sharing and collaborative innovation, ultimately achieving regional prosperity.
Rector Liu underscored the current context of rapid global urbanization and profound technological transformations, mentioning that striking a balance between preserving historical heritage and fostering modern urban development, and constructing a sustainable urban development paradigm, presented a significant challenge for Macao and global urban governance alike. He highlighted that this challenge provided more practical opportunities for urban science research while demanding greater theoretical innovation for academia.
Research fellow Michael Batty from the British Academy explored the digital scenarios for sustainable cities, analyzing the potential of digital technologies in urban planning and demonstrating how to optimize urban resource allocation using big data. Zhang Bing, chief planner at the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, presented the in-depth integration of “multiple urban plans into one single master plan” along with spatial governance strategies for mega and super-sized cities. Shen Lei, chief engineer of the Chinese Society for Urban Studies, shared reflections on the transformation of urban planning, exploring how to address urbanization challenges through comprehensive coordination of social, economic, and environmental factors. Professor Dang Anrong from Tsinghua University showcased innovative applications of digital twins in cultural heritage preservation, introducing how digital technology can be used for precise modeling and monitoring of cultural heritage. Professor Liu Yu from Peking University discussed urban research methodologies based on multi-source data integration, emphasizing the importance of integrating geographic information and social data to comprehensively understand the complexity of urban systems. Finally, Professor Shen Guoqiang, chair professor at the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the Zhejiang University, highlighted the profound impact of technological innovation on urban planning management, noting that artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are transforming the current urban management practices and promoting more efficient governance models.