Speaker event at SCARP: China urbanising in global context

Talk summary

China’s urbanization has evolved amid the interconnected forces of historical legacies, contemporary state interventions and human and ecological conditions. Embracing this notion, a new collection of work in the book China Urbanizing questions the conventional imagination centring cities in the West. This lecture highlights key conclusions and theoretical touchstones that have emerged. In addition to outlining new perspectives on the impacts of China’s urbanization, Professor Wu will point to the transitions underway as well as the gravity of the progress, particularly in the context of demographic shifts and climate change.

Weiping Wu 

is the Vice Provost for Academic Programs, and Professor and Director of Urban Planning Program at Columbia University.

A seasoned urban and planning scholar with a focus on the Global South and China, she is the author and editor of nine books as well as many articles on issues of housing, infrastructure, and migration in China’s cities. 

In addition to China Urbanizing: Impacts and Transitions, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press (2022), other recent books include The Chinese City (2020, second edition) and The Sage Handbook on Contemporary China (2018). Holding leadership roles professionally, she is the current chair of the Planning Accreditation Board, which accredits university undergraduate and master’s programs in urban and regional planning in North America; chairs the Social and Behavioral Sciences sub-panel of the Hong Kong Research Grant Council; and serves on the international advisory panel for the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities.

Light refreshments will be served.