Profile

Professor Rebecca L.H. Chiu is Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Architecture and Department of Urban Planning and Design of HKU, former Head of Department of Urban Planning and Design (7/2014 – 7/2020), former Director of Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning (3/2013 – 6/2021) and former Director of the Belt and Road Urban Observatory (5/2016 – 6/2021) of the Faculty of Architecture, HKU.  Her current research interests are housing and urban sustainability, comparative Asian housing policies, urbanization in China and OBOR cities, compact urbanism, and age-friendly cities. Her current research projects include elderly health and the built and social environments, housing for the elderly, financialization of housing, housing policy and residential model transfer across political economies.

She is appointed Honorary Professor of the Bartlett School of Planning of University College London, and Director of Board of Governance of UOW Hong Kong College; was appointed Visiting Professor of the Faculty of the Built Environment of the University of Ulster and Universiti Malaya; member of the editorial board of Progress in Planning, and of the International Advisory Committee of Housing, Theory and Society. She was Founder Chairman (2001- 2021), and is Senior Advisor, of the Asia Pacific Network for Housing Research. She has been appointed to government committees and boards of housing, urban planning, land, built heritage, urban renewal and environmental preservation in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Currently she is advisor to a government-funded (HK$220 million) consultancy study of Ove ARUP HK Ltd on Artificial Islands in Central Waters, which aims to meet Hong Kong’s medium-to-long-term development needs. She is also appointed by the HKSAR Government as member of the Assessment Committee of the Funding Scheme to Support Transitional Housing Projects by NGOs, Board of Directors of Urban Renewal Fund Limited, and Assessment Panel of Strategic Public Policy Research Funding Scheme/Public Policy Research Funding Scheme under HKSAR Government’s Chief Executive’s Policy Unit, and member of the International Panel of Experts of Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.

Awards & Achievements

  • Elected Honorary Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, 2017
  • Conferred Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom, 2017
  • Received Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award 2017
  • Awarded Medal of Honour by the Chief Executive of HKSAR Government, 2017
  • Received Faculty Teaching Award 2013
  • Elected Honorary Member of the Institute of Shopping Centre Management, 2001
  • Awarded Justice of the Peace by the Chief Executive of HKSAR Government, 2006
  • Awarded Honorary Fellow of Hong Kong Institute of Housing, 1993

Grants

  • “Professional Management of High-Density Housing Estates in Hong Kong: Implications and Inspiration of COVID-19”, Hong Kong Institute of Housing.“Transferability of Subsidized Housing Policy from a Liberal Interventionist to a Marketized Socialist System: The Case of Hong Kong and Shenzhen”, General Research Fund, Research Grants Council.
  • “Social sustainability of gated communities in a high-density city: the case of Hong Kong” Research Grants Council.
  • “Compaction and dispersion: sustainable urban forms for large Chinese cities” General Research Fund, Research Grants Council.
  • “A Comprehensive Study on Housing in an Ageing Community”, Hong Kong Housing Society.
  • “Potential Demand for Purpose-design Elderly Housing among Lower-middle Elderly Households in Hong Kong”, Hong Kong Housing Society.
  • “Help Build Hong Kong into an Age-friendly City Project (Four Districts of Hong Kong Island)”, Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.
  • “Contribution of Housing Management Professionals to the Liveability of Large Housing Estates in Hong Kong”, Hong Kong Institute of Housing.

Recent Publications

  • H.C. Ho, Y. Song, W. Cheng, Y. Liu, Y. Guo, S. Lu, T.Y.S. Lum, R.L.H. Chiu, C. Webster (2023) “How do forms and characteristics of Asian public housing neighbourhoods affect dementia risk among senior population? A cross-sectional study in Hong Kong” Public Health, 219, 44-52.

    Chiu, R. L.H. (2021). Subsidized housing policy transfer: from liberal-interventionist Hong Kong to marketized socialist Shenzhen. Housing, Theory and Society. DOI: 10.1080/14036096.2021.1879252

    Rebecca L.H. Chiu (2021) “Compact urbanism and older people’s mental wellbeing: reflections from Hong Kong”, in Mark Scott (ed.) Interface on Planning for Age-friendly Cities, Planning Theory & Practice, p.11-18.

    Liu, Y., Lu, S., Guo, Y., Ho, H.C., Song, Y., Cheng, W., Chui, C.H.K., Chan, O.F., Chiu, R.L.H., Webster, C., & Lum, T.Y.S. (2021). Longitudinal associations between neighbourhood physical environments and depressive symptoms of older adults in Hong Kong: The moderating effects of terrain slope and declining functional abilities. Health & Place, 70, 102585. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102585

    Lu, S., Liu, Y., Guo, Y., Ho, H.C., Song, Y., Cheng, W., Chui, C.H.K., Chan, O.F., Chiu, R.L.H., Webster, C., & Lum, T.Y.S. (2021). Neighbourhood physical environment, intrinsic capacity and 4-year late-life functional ability trajectories of low-income Chinese older population: A longitudinal study with the parallel process of latent growth curve modelling. EClinicalMedicine (In press).

    Li, J., & Chiu, R. L. H. (2019). State rescaling and large-scale urban development projects in China: The case of Lingang New Town, Shanghai. Urban Studies.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019881367

    Chiu, R. L. H., Liu, Z., & Renaud, B. (Eds.) (2019). International Housing Market Experience and Implications for China. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Chiu, R. L. H. (2019). Housing challenges in Hong Kong’s dualistic housing system: Implications for Chinese cities. In R. L. H. Chiu, Z. Liu, & B. Renaud (Eds.), International Housing Market Experience and Implications for China (pp. 201-229). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Renaud, B., Chiu, R. L. H., & Liu, Z. (2019). Global and local housing challenges. In R. L. H. Chiu, Z. Liu, & B. Renaud (Eds.), International Housing Market Experience and Implications for China (pp. 3-26). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Glaeser, E., Chiu, R. L. H., Liu, Z., & Renaud, B. (2019). A roadmap for housing policy: Lessons of international experience. In R. L. H. Chiu, Z. Liu, & B. Renaud (Eds.), International Housing Market Experience and Implications for China (pp. 355-388). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Zhang, T., Chiu, R. L. H., & Ho, H. C. (2019). Suburban neighborhood environments and depression: A case study of Guangzhou, China. Transport and Geography, 15, 100624.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.100624

    Chui, C. H., Tang, J. Y. M., Kwan, C. M., Chan, O. F., Tse, M., Chiu, R. L. H., Lou, V. W. Q., Chau, P. H., Leung, A. Y. M., & Lum, T. Y. S. (2019). Older adults’ perceptions of age-friendliness in Hong Kong. The Gerontologist, 59(3), 549-558.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny052

    Wei, Z., & Chiu, R. L. H. (2018). Livability of subsidized housing estates in marketized socialist China: An institutional interpretation. Cities, 83, 108-117.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.06.013

    Chiu, R.L.H., & Webster, C. (2018). One Belt One Road Urban Observatory (OBORobs). Special Issue on Urbanizing, Technology, Architecture and Design, Journal of American Collegiate Schools of Architects, 3(1), 33-35. DOI: 10.1080/24751448.2019.1571795

    Li, J., & Chiu, R.L.H. (2018). Urban investment and development corporations, new town development and China’s local state restructuring – The case of Songjiang new town, Shanghai. Urban Geography, 39(5), 687-705. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2017.1382308

    Satu, S.A., & Chiu, R.L.H. (2017). Livability in dense residential neighbourhoods of Dhaka. Housing Studies, 34(3), 538-559. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2017.1364711

    Wei, Z., Chen, T., Chiu, R.L.H., & Chan, E.H.W. (2017). Policy transferability on public housing at the city level: Singapore to Guangzhou in China. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 143(3).

Editorial Board Membership

  • Editorial Board, Progress in Planning
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Urban Affairs
  • International Advisory Committee, International Journal for Housing Policy
  • International Advisory Committee, Housing, Theory and Society
  • International Editorial Board, Urban Policy and Research (since 2002)

Major Public services

  • Assessment Committee of the Funding Scheme to Support Transitional Housing Projects by NGO (2020 -2023)
  • Public Policy Research Funding Scheme/Strategic Public Policy Funding Scheme (2019 – 2023)
  • International Expert Panel, Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (2018 – 2021)
  • Urban Renewal Fund (2018 – 2023)
  • Hong Kong 2030+ Expert Advisory Panel, Planning Department (2016 – 2019)
  • Antiquities Advisory Board (2012 – 2018)
  • Country and Marine Park Board (2012 – 2017), Chairman of Country Park Committee (2015 -17)
  • Hong Kong Housing Authority – Governance Board, Subsidized Housing Committee, and Building Committee (2006-2012)
  • Land and Building Advisory Committee (2003-2009)
  • Town Planning Board (1998-2006)
  • Hong Kong Housing Authority – Home Ownership Committee (1996-2002)
  • Chairman, School Redevelopment Steering Committee, Ying Wa Girls School, Hong Kong

Teaching

Curriculum development (Leader/Co-leader)

  • Master of Urban Analytics 2019
  • Bachelor of Housing Management 1998
  • Master of Housing Management 1992

Executive education (Co-Leader)

  • Seminar/Workshop series in Urban Analytics for Lands Department, HKSAR Government 2020 – 2021