The (High Density) Metropolis and Region in Planning History
The 20th IPHS Biennial Conference is to be held on 2-5 July 2024 in Hong Kong. As Asia’s World City, Hong Kong offers a unique entry point to variant narratives of planning in the past, and against this backdrop core themes of the conference will be port city developments, colonial urban planning, postcolonial planning dynamics, new towns, regions and regional planning in history, cities and the natural environment, and city planning in high-density urban contexts.
Confirmed speakers for the event include Prof. Cecilia Chu (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Prof. Carmen Tsui (Lingnan University), who will each offer a Special Lecture on Hong Kong Planning History, plus Prof. Ng Mee Kam (CUHK) as a keynote speaker and Profs. John and Margaret Gold (Oxford Brookes University/UCL and London Metropolitan University) as speakers for the Gordon Cherry Memorial Lecture. Prof. Chu is the author of the award winning monograph Building Colonial Hong Kong, Prof. Tsui has, among her publications, published about the history of housing in Hong Kong, Prof. Ng is renowned in Hong Kong urban studies and holds numerous advisory posts, and Profs. Gold presently act as Editors of the IPHS-affiliated journal, Planning Perspectives.
As a long-established and globally renowned trading hub, Hong Kong has much to offer the urbanist. At the 2024 IPHS Conference, delegates will have opportunities to learn about the city via means of talks and fieldtrips. However, against the backdrop of the conference theme, delegates are most welcome to propose talks and discussions on cities and regions beyond South China. Thus, anyone interested in the historical relationship between urbanisation, density, and planning is invited to participate in the 20th Biennial IPHS Conference.
The IPHS’ Hong Kong forum grants a multidisciplinary opportunity for scholars to come together to discuss different aspects of the urban past. Planners, architects, urban historians, geographers, art and architectural historians, sociologists, as well as other scholars are welcome to present the latest research findings on various aspects of city development and planning. For postgraduate students, special sessions will be organised.
Delegates can register for either for the online event, or for both the online and in-person conference. Persons attending the conference in Hong Kong will automatically be granted access to the online event. However, persons attending only the online event cannot access the IPHS conference in Hong Kong. Registration fees, as noted previously, will be lower for IPHS members.
At each biennial IPHS conference awards are given for scholarly excellence in the field of Planning History. Prizes to be awarded at the 2024 Conference in Hong Kong are:
Nominations are now open for the awards. For more information please click here.
Prize committees are chaired by the following respected planning historians:
Anthony Sutcliffe Dissertation Prize, Prof. Friedhelm Fischer
Best Postgraduate Paper at IPHS Conference Prize, Prof. Nuran Gulersoy
Koos Bosma Prize in Planning History Innovation, Prof. Carola Hein
East Asia Planning History Paper Prize, Prof. Fukuo Akimoto
Planning Perspectives Prize, Prof. John Gold
IPHS Book Prize 1, 2 and 3, Prof. Filippo De Pieri
IPHS Professional Award, Prof. Ian Morley
Sir Peter Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement in Planning History, Prof. Robert Freestone
The 20th Biennial IPHS Conference is co-organised by Prof. Ian Morley (Department of History, CUHK) and Prof. Hendrik Tieben (School of Architecture, CUHK). They can be contacted by email at iphs2024@cuhk.edu.hk.
The organisers wish, ahead of the 2024 conference, to thank the Department of History and the School of Architecture for co-hosting the event, as well as the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Social Science, for their financial backing and logistical support.
The organisers extend their thanks to Dr Leon Xu of CUHK School of Architecture for providing photos used on the website, and Miss Claudia Montero for designing the logo of IPHS 2024.