In response to the escalating risks in urban development and governance, the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the School of Government at Nanjing University have formalised a partnership by signing an agreement to establish the Joint Laboratory for AI-Enabled City Development and Safety Governance on 21 April, 2026 on HKU campus. It is the first research platform under the “Nanjing University Hong Kong Advanced Research Institute” set up in October 2025.
The ceremony was witnessed by Academician Tan Tieniu, Party Secretary of Nanjing University, and Professor Peng Gong, Vice-President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic Development) of HKU. The agreement was signed by Professor Zhang Haibo, Dean of Nanjing University’s School of Government, and Professor Chang Yung Ho, Dean of HKU’s Faculty of Architecture.
The Joint Laboratory will be co-led by Chair Professor Wilson Lu, Head of HKU’s Department of Real Estate and Construction and Director of iLab@HKU, alongside Professor Zhang Haibo, Dean of School of Government at Nanjing University. The Expert Advisory Committee’s chief advisors include Professor Anthony Yeh, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chair Professor of Urban Planning and Design at HKU, and Dr Zheng Guoguang, former Deputy Minister of China’s Ministry of Emergency Management.
From Passive Defence to Active Resilience
As extreme weather and catastrophic events increasingly strain traditional urban governance, natural disasters—including heatwaves, floods, and typhoons—pose systemic risks to dense populations and complex infrastructure. This evolving landscape necessitates a paradigm shift from traditional “passive defence” to “active resilience,” driven by digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
The Joint Laboratory will leverage rapid advances in AI to enhance urban health assessments and integrate big data across climate change, food security, and public health. By bridging complex modelling with urban systems, the Laboratory aims to facilitate hypothesis validation and accelerate the application of scientific research in urban policy and governance.
Strategic Research and Innovation
Building on the interdisciplinary strengths of HKU and Nanjing University, the Laboratory will address national strategic priorities and technical bottlenecks in AI, digital twins, and intelligent robotics. The research will focus on six core areas:
- Building pathology and infrastructure health evolution in complex urban environments.
- Integration of extreme climate threats and cross-domain big data, overcoming technical challenges in lightweight 3D city modeling and dynamic disaster simulation as digital twin foundations.
- Enhancing inspection efficiency of concealed urban spaces by developing human-machine collaborative intelligent inspection and automated operation and maintenance technologies.
- Smart construction, operation, maintenance, and digital governance through Building Information Modeling (BIM) and City Information Modeling (CIM).
- Real-time monitoring and intelligent early warning for urban cultural heritage risks, advancing a shift from passive restoration to proactive preventive protection in conservation and emergency management.
- Public policy research on urban development and safety governance supported by big data and AI.
Through this collaboration, HKU and Nanjing University aim to develop integrated, precise governance solutions, ensuring safer and more resilient cities for the future.
Media enquiries: Janice Leung, Manager for Communications and Public Relations
(Tel: 3917 5970, email: jan.leung@hku.hk）
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