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”.