Building Sustainable Cities in the Face of Climate Emergency: SEE Researchers Featured in Times Higher Education

Insights from researchers at the School of Energy and Environment (SEE), City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), have been highlighted in a special report by Times Higher Education (THE), following a high-level panel discussion co-organized with CityUHK at the 2026 THE Global Sustainable Development Congress.

Chaired by Prof. Benjamin Horton, Dean of SEE, the panel titled "Building sustainable cities in the face of climate emergency" brought together key academic leaders and public officials—including Prof. Ping Han, Associate Professor at SEE, and Prof. Peipei Chen, Assistant Professor at SEE, alongside Prof. Jung-Eun Chu, Assistant Professor at Seoul National University, and Mr. Fadly Amran, Mayor of Padang, West Sumatra Province, Indonesia—to discuss cross-sector strategies for urban climate resilience.

The report emphasizes Prof. Benjamin Horton’s perspective that technological innovations must integrate with social sciences and community needs to truly succeed. Building on this, Prof. Ping Han and Prof. Peipei Chen shared key insights into how academia, government, and industry must collaborate to establish public trust when deploying green technologies. The discussion also examined the integration of data-driven early warning systems and nature-based defenses to protect vulnerable urban areas against extreme weather.

This spotlight in Times Higher Education underscores the real-world impact of SEE researchers and their role in shaping global conversations on climate adaptation.

Read the full feature on Times Higher Education: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/research/city-university-hong-kong/building-sustainable-cities-face-climate-emergency?utm_source=gemini