Beyond Smart Cities: A Self-Sustaining & Liveable 10-min Neighborhood
At the beginning of this new year, MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, and MIT Media Lab City Science Group, jointly organized Beyond Smart Cities: A Self-Sustaining and Liveable 10-min Neighborhood, a 13-day Independent Activities Period (IAP) workshop on January 3-15, 2022.
MIT & HK Students + Student Ambassadors
Domain Experts from MIT
and Hong Kong
Online/Offline Attendees on the Final Showcase
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“ It has been an honor to allow me to provide the problem challenges, and also be the program mentor of MIT IAP 2022 Beyond Smart Cities by MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node. It is something special to meet with all these energetic young talents from different backgrounds with so many brilliant ideas. The program has been very diverse and vibrant, and provides a lot of insight and innovative ideas for students and participants like me. I think this program will continue to succeed with more and more interaction and sharing with local communities and professionals. ”
– Steven Chan, Domain Expert
Design Manager (Investment Property), MTR Corporation Limited
“ The Hong Kong PropTech Association (HKPTA) is proud to be a supporting organization for MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node. Personally, I am also delighted to participate as one of the mentors for the MIT IAP 2022 Virtual Design Workshop alongside fellow HKPTA members Annie Liang, Director of Sonn Group, and Darrell Chan, Executive Director of The Luk Hoi Tong Co., Ltd. It was an excellent opportunity to see the young, bright university students presenting their innovative project ideas on the topics related to our local urban development. It will be exciting to see if the top ideas can be translated to actionable projects Island South with public and private sectors. ”
– Vivian Chan, Domain Expert
Founder & Chairman, Hong Kong PropTech Association
“ I was amazed by the depth of their research into an overlooked district that has so much to offer. Many graphical depictions of the proposed ideas were quite professional and appealing to the audience. We can’t wait to see them in action soon! ”
– Eddie Hui, Final Showcase Participant
“ Glad to participate in this meaningful event organized by MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node. There are 6 project teams that all have different innovative and creative concepts on invigorating Island South from different perspectives. Some teams are more focused on sustainability living, urban farming, local food supply, etc. while a team proposed to handle the food waste issue related to Island South. Enhancing local mobility and connectivity by means of bridges or tunnels with consideration to geographical constraints, are very good and practicable. It is really a great difficulty to judge and award the winning teams.
It is an excellent experience for me to join this event and be a mentor on the subject of sustainability and renewable energy. Happy to see that some participants have applied some sustainability related in their design concept. ”
– Victor Kwong, Domain Expert
General Manager – Corporate Sustainability, The HK & China Gas Co. Ltd. (Towngas)
“ I am thrilled and honored to be one of the mentors for the MIT IAP 2022 Beyond Smart Cities Workshop organized by MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, and happy to meet several groups of talented MIT students virtually. Though I am supposed to be the mentor giving professional advice, I actually learnt a lot of innovative ideas from the students. I hope some of the ideas will be supported by the Government and revivid Island South in near future. ”
– Darron Sun, Domain Expert
Head of IT in Public Sector
Experience shared by Adolphus Lau, Student Participant
Focusing on Hong Kong Island South (including Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau areas), which are home to attractive coastal scenery and rich cultural landmarks such as Ocean Park and Jumbo Floating Restaurant etc., we discussed the emerging city challenges ranging from sustainable development to placemaking, from urban mobility to walkability. This hybridized “design workshop” has brought students from Hong Kong and MIT together to develop innovative and locally deployable strategies.
We were thrilled to have such a large cohort this year: 35 MIT and Hong Kong students, with diverse backgrounds in Architecture, City Planning, Urban Design, Creative Media, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. 12 Undergraduate Student Ambassadors from HKU, PolyU, and HKUST, were one-to-one paired with virtual students, kindly helping them to better understand the local conditions from a wide range of aspects. Students well mixed from different programs and places worked in groups, and interacted closely with local decision-makers, built-environment professionals, and domain experts from both Hong Kong and MIT.
Booklet
Student Projects
Island of A Thousand Islands
Reconnecting Blue & Green
ImmerSEA-WEAVE
Symbioponics
Sampan
FoodGo
Congratulations to our IAP 2022 Cohort on their wonderful final presentations! Please read the Node News on the Final Showcase and feel free to watch the replay of it on Youtube.
Faculty and Program Team
Professor Kent Larson, Director of the City Science Group, MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sunnie S.Y. Lau, Director, Head of Smart City Research and Industry Collaboration, MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node
Michael Lin, Research Scientist, Ph.D. in Media Arts and Science, MIT Media Lab City Science Group
Dining Liu, Project Coordinator, MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node; PhD Candidate in Spatial Analysis, UCL; MLA ‘18, UC Berkeley
Louis K.C. Cheng, Teaching Assistant, MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node; MLA ‘19, The University of Hong Kong
Aaron C.P. Ng, Program Coordinator; Postgraduate Candidate in Art Therapy and Social Work, Vancouver Art Therapy Institute and The University of Hong Kong
Domain Experts
(including Mentors and Judges on Showcase Day)
listed in the alphabetical order of surnames
Brenda Au, Head, Invigorating Island South Office, Development Bureau, HKSAR Government
Darrell Chan, Executive Director at The Luk Hoi Tong Company (LHT), Advisor of Hong Kong PropTech Association
Steven Chan, Design Manager (Investment Property), MTR Corporation Limited
Vivian Chan, Founder & Chairman, Hong Kong PropTech Association
Connie Cheung, MIT MBA ‘14; Director, PwC Mainland China and Hong Kong
Wolfgang Gruel, Professor for Intelligent Mobility Concepts, The Esslingen University Head of the Fraunhofer Application Center KEIM
Sean Z. Kwok, MIT B.Sc. in Architecture and Design ‘97 & MArch ‘01; Senior Architect / Director of Design at Arthur C.S. Kwok Architects & Associates, Ltd.
Victor Kwong, General Manager – Corporate Sustainability, The HK & China Gas Co. Ltd. (Towngas)
Weifeng Li, MIT DUSP PhD; Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, the University of Hong Kong
Annie Liang, Founder of Wonderbricks
Joseph C.H. Mok, Chief Project Manager – Property, Hong Kong Property, MTR Corporation Limited
Paul Pong, Founder of Institute of ESG & Benchmark
Gene Soo, Head of Ecosystem – Global Innovation, MTR Corporation Limited
Darron Sun, Head of IT in Public Sector
Kenneth Tang, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, the University of Hong Kong
Paulina Wong, Assistant Professor, Science Unit Lingnan University
“Student Project Sharing”, by Hacking Kowloon East 2021 MIT Alumni:
Joel Austin Cunningham, Master of Science in Architecture Studies(Design), Second Year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kwan Queenie Li, Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology, Second Year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cohort Basics
Event Partner
Supporting Organizations
Gallery
