History
Our
Story
The International Centre for China Development Studies (ICCDS) was established in June 2002. It was jointly established by two renowned institutions: Department of Geography, HKU, and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
From the academic year 2007-2008, ICCDS has been re-located from the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Social Sciences. Since then, greater synergy with the Faculty of Social Sciences and its academic departments has been created, and robust platform for interdisciplinary research has been built for China development studies within HKU. Built upon an internationally acclaimed track record of research excellence, ICCDS brings together researchers and experts from the diversity of economics, social sciences, environmental sciences, and humanities from various universities and research institutes to provide better understanding of the unique pattern of Chinese development and its influences on the western world.
ICCDS has continuously improved its performance in research, knowledge exchange and social impact. In the past 5 years, its core members, in collaboration with scholars from many Chinese and overseas universities/research institutes, have published more than 150 peer-reviewed journals and over 20 book chapters to generate insightful and impactful findings.
Aiming to maintain and enhance its performance, ICCDS has restructured its executive committee and will evaluate research priorities regularly and explore opportunities of funding support via a series of discussions and meetings that will embrace relevant stakeholders, so as to align more closely its research directions with the strategic research development of the Faculty and the University, and also serve the society and policy making with timely, advanced, and progressive knowledge generated not only inside but also outside of unique socio, economic, cultural and political context of contemporary China.
International Center for China Development Studies
Mission
Facing the challenges of urbanization, industrialization, globalization and de-globalisation in China’s unique socio-economic context, ICCDS aims to promote international collaborative research, nurture academic training, and enhance social impacts on broad issues brought by China’s rapid development with the following specific goals.
To function as an international multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary research platform for academic research, training and consultancy on China development and globalization issues
To undertake high-impact and quality collaborative research and consultant projects for international/national development organizations, governments, and multi-national corporations
To organize high-profile international/national events for networking, information sharing, and knowledge exchange
To explore external funding sources in support of academic research
To cultivate social impacts via proactive engagement with diverse stakeholders, including governmental policy makers, business section, and interested citizens
Prof. Wendy Y Chen
(planning, academic and research)
Fields of Interest
Ecological Economics
Environmental Economics
Valuation of Ecosystem Services
Urban Forestry
Environmental Science
Director
Prof. George C.S. Lin
(academic and research)
Fields of Interest
Urban and Regional Development in China
Land Property Rights in China
Transnationalism and Chinese Diaspora
Social Geography of China
Public Policy and Regional Development
Economic Geography
Hong Kong-Guangdong Integration
Chairman of Advisory Committee
Member of Executive Committee
(Research)
Prof. Shenjing He
Fields of Interest
Urban redevelopment/gentrification
Policy mobility and entrepreneurial urbanism
Rural-urban migration and informal housing
Neighbourhood governance
Health geography
Dr. Junxi Qian
Fields of Interest
Public Space
Urban Studies & Urban Theory
Indigenous People & Indigenous Modernity
Religion
Cultural Economic Geography
Place and Place Politics
Dr. Frank van der Wouden
Fields of Interest
Innovation
Collaboration
Technological change
Cities
Impact of distance on socio-economic activity
Computational social science
Economic growth
Mobility
Network Science
Machine Learning
External member of Executive Committee
(Review of the Centre's activities)
Dr. R.C.K. Chan
Fields of Interest
Global Production Networks and “State and Space”
Urbanization and Agglomerations
Urban and Regional Governance
Spatial and Economic Evolution between Hong Kong and Southern China
Prof. R. Hu
Fields of Interest
International political economy
East Asian international relations and regionalism
China's foreign relations
Cross-Strait relations