Announcements

Rural Landscape Project of The University of Hong Kong Received UN-Habitat’s 2021 Asian Townscape Award

2022.01.25

We would like to congratulate the University of Hong Kong for receiving the UN-Habitat’s 2021 Asian Townscape Award for their “HSBC Rural Sustainability Programme” in Lai Chi Wo Village.

 

The programme is managed by IPSI member the Policy for Sustainability Lab at the university’s Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) since 2013 with the support of the Lai Chi Wo Village and HSBC. The jury commended that the programme revived a devastated rural village into an ideal farm. The various organizations brought out the vitality of the people”. “We also focused on the interaction between rural and urban areas to make it sustainable,” the jury further commended. Last year, the programme was also awarded the Special Recognition for Sustainable Development in the 2020 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

 

The revitalisation of Lai Chi Wo Village was also awarded the “AIA Hong Kong Citation 2021” by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Hong Kong Chapter “for the ongoing collaborative efforts of individuals and organizations in heritage conservation of this historic Hakka walled settlement…thereby promoting sustainable rural community development and encouraging effective control over rural land use”. 

Lai Chi Wo Village revitalisation team receiving AIA Hong Kong Citation 2021

A representative of the university commented, “We are glad that our programme, with the support from HSBC, has raised and incubated the interest of keen individuals and organisations to start new conservation projects in Lai Chi Wo and beyond. Last year, our Centre also launched a “Forest Village” programme to revitalise two villages in the vicinity of Lai Chi Wo and established a partnership with international agencies and universities in the Asia-Pacific region for the incubation of rural sustainability knowledge and actions”.