International Centre for China Development Studies
History
Our
Story
The International Centre for China Development Studies (ICCDS) was established in June 2002 in response to an explosive demand for knowledge about China’s phenomenal development subsequent to its accession to the World Trade Organization. It was also an encouraging outgrowth of an extremely successful Master of Arts in China Area Studies Programme (MAChAS) launched in September 2000. In contrast with other similar research centres and hubs that specialize in China’s international relations, institutions and political systems or the labor markets, the ICCDS has set its own agenda focusing on the practical and grounded issues of China’s urban and regional development ranging from the growth and location of multi-national corporations to the pattern and process of regional industrialization and urbanization, dynamics and spatiality of rural to urban migration, regional practices of land commodification and marketization, political economy of urbanization and urban redevelopment, diverse pathways and regional trajectories of eco-urbanism and lately the intriguing and paradoxical “green-turn” of China’s urbanization amidst continuing economic growth and accelerated urban transition. Adopting a down-to-earth approach and targeting issues of direct relevance to policy formation, management and practices, the ICCDS is uniquely poised to carve an important niche not just for the undertaking of original, impactful and cutting-edge research but also for the training, consultancy and transfer of knowledge and skills concerning China’s urban and regional developments.
Initially harboured in the Faculty of Arts, the ICCDS has since 2008 joined the Faculty of Social Sciences for a better synergism with cognate disciplines. Drawing upon special theoretical and methodological strengths in urban and regional studies and embracing a wide range of international multidisciplinary expertise with common interests in China studies, the ICCDS has provided a distinctive platform for cross-disciplinary collaborative research, scholarly dialogue and knowledge exchange to generate path-breaking impacts on the understanding and management of China’s staggering urban and regional development at a scale and speed unprecedented in history and unparalleled on earth.
Recent Events
Mission
The dawn of the new millennium has brought us to an important historical juncture witnessing the phenomenal growth of the Chinese economy, a landmark urbanization of the human race crossing the 50 percent rubrics, unprecedented technological advancements, and alarming trends of consumption and carbon emission threatening the long term sustainability of our small planet. These new challenges and opportunities have, coupled with the distinctive gateway location of Hong Kong bridging China with the world, provided the premises upon which the ICCDS (re)positions itself and (re)formulates its research and development strategy. Leveraging upon our global scholarly networks and well-established linkages with Chinese research institutions as well as extensive field work experiences over China, the ICCDS aspires to develop into an internationally recognized centre of excellence for the undertaking of cutting-edge research, training, knowledge exchange and transfer concerning China’s urban and regional development.
To function as a gateway and focal point of scholarly exchange between China and the international community interested in Chinese urban and regional development
To foster synergized multidisciplinary,
cross-institutional and international research collaboration for the production, exchange and transfer of cutting-edge knowledge concerning China’s continuing urbanization, human-environment interaction and regional transformation
To train, cultivate and groom new generations of graduate students and professional practitioners with the needed expertise and special skills for businesses and occupations involving China’s urban and regional development
To generate high societal impacts upon both the academic and non-academic communities through consultancy work and wide engagements with various stakeholders including government agencies, the private and business sector, NGOs, philanthropy, and concerned citizens locally, nationally and internationally
To keep pace with the evolving and ever changing dynamics of China’s urban and regional transformation through the regular hosting of symposium, conferences, workshops, information sharing and networking
To safeguard the long-term sustainability of research and development tapping into resources from local, national and international funding agencies, the private sector and self-financed educational programmes
Chairman (Director)
Member (Associate Director)
Dr. Han MA
(Academic and Research)
Fields of Interest
Land-atmosphere parameters retrieval from multiple satellite observations
Land and atmospheric radiative transfer modeling
Data assimilation and machine learning methodology
Global high-resolution seamless satellite biophyscial products development
Member (Associate Director)
Prof. Ben A Gerlofs
-
Fields of Interest
gentrification and neighborhood change, ethnography, global and comparative urbanism
urban geopolitics, urban governance,
social and political movements
urban aesthetics, dialectics, ‘structures of feeling’
cultural landscapes, urbanization, ‘social formations’
