Projects per year
Personal profile
Personal profile
I obtained my Masters degree in Urban Planning from Harvard GSD and Ph.D (Geography) from the University of California at Berkeley. Before joining the UPD at XJTLU in 2018, I was a postdoctoral fellow and a visiting lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
My research and teaching interrogate the history and theories of urban interventions, urban politics under climate change, and the ongoing urbanisation of Chinas economy, society and culture.I have devoted much of my research endeavour to addressing the question of how aspirations for sustainable urbanism shape state-society relations and create new forms of urban politics. This focus has pervaded my doctoral research at Berkeley, my postdoctoral research at the University of Hong Kong, and my current career at XJTLU, with the latter engaging directly with ongoing debates about urban responses to climate change. My scholarly activities along this line of inquiry have been awarded with competitive research grants and fellowships, and have resulted in publications in top-ranking international peer-reviewed journals including International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. I see these milestones together as a starting point for my long-term research goal of bringing “political ecology” into the study of the contemporary urban processes in the East Asia region. I am currently working on an co-edited book project, tentatively titled Urban Crises and Future Cities, which aims at drawing in new ideas about urban governance responding to perceived global crises such as climate change and infectious disease outbreaks.
Another line of scholarly inquiry, which I find myself increasingly drawn into these days, has to do with the question of how the cultural economy and urban (re)developments intersect and co-evolve. What has been prompting me to engage with debates in the geography of cultural economy was the several superb qualitative dissertation fieldworks conducted by XJTLU master’s and PhD students in Chinese cities, which helped me see the intricate connections between the culture industry and the production of new urban places. In this regard, I have published a research journal article (with Hui Wang) in City, Culture and Society, which examined the peculiar relocation of a film festival from the global-looking metropolis of Beijing to the less-developed city of Xining located on the hard-to-reach Tibetan Plateau.
Current PhD Supervision:
Wang, Hui (2020.12-present). When Film Festivals Arrived in Small Cities: The evolution of Chinese film production geography and urban development in inland China. The University of Liverpool; Postgraduate Research Scholarship.
Guo, Xiaotong (2023.09-present) Culture-led rural revitalisation in China: A case study of Chinese rural theatre festivals. The University of Liverpool; Postgraduate Research Scholarship.
Research interests
Critical urban and regional studies, planning theory, urban governance, economic geography, cultural economy, urban politics under climate change
Experience
Visiting Fellow, International Center for China Development Studies, University of Hong Kong (June-August, 2024)
Programme Director, MSc Urban Planning, XJTLU Design School (2021-2024)
Programme Director, MSc Urban Planning (specialisation in Urban Design), XJTLU Design School (2021-2024)
Teaching
UPD401 Theory and Practice of Urban Regeneration (PG)
UPD301 Planning Law and Governance (UG)
UPD302 Planning Theory (UG)
UPD003 Building a City
UPD409 Dissertation (Urban Planning; PG)
BVN403 Dissertation (Urban Design; PG)
Courses taught at University of Hong Kong:
GEOG7124-Globalization Spatial Economic Transformation in China (PG);
GEOG7101-Chinese Economies: Location, Transformation and Integration (PG);
GEOG4101-Sustainable Urban Transport Planning (UG)
Couses taught at UC Berkeley:
GEOG110-Economic Geography of the Industrial World (UG);
POLECON110-Classical Theories of Political Economy (UG);
GEOG10-World Regions, Peoples, and States (UG)
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Ph.D in Geography, University of California at Berkeley (with Designated Emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies)
Master in Urban Planning, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
BA in Economics, National Taiwan University
Person Types
- Staff
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Finished
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From Climate Change Mitigation to Adaptation: The Fever of Sponge City Construction in China and Its Implications to Local Environmental Governance
1/09/19 → 31/12/23
Project: Internal Research Project
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Building Sustainable Cities in China: Sustainable Development and Uneven Urban Transformation in the Pearl River Delta and Jing-Jin-Ii (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) Urban Regions
Lin, G. C. S. & Kao, S.
1/01/17 → 31/12/19
Project: Governmental Research Project
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Cultural events and the city: The migration of FIRST International Film Festival from Beijing to Xining, China
Wang, H. & Kao, S. Y., Mar 2023, In: City, Culture and Society. 32, 100506.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
Ecological civilization, anti-incineration activism and the rolling out of ‘compulsory waste-sorting’ programs in Chinese cities
Kao, S., 2023, Handbook on China’s Urban Environmental Governance. Zhang, F. & Wu, F. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 340-353 (HANDBOOKS OF RESEARCH ON CONTEMPORARY CHINA).Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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From Climate Change Mitigation to Adaptation: the Construction of Sponge Cities in Guangzhou
Kao, S., 2023.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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在人文艺术与自然生态视角下探讨城市空间与景观设计实践: 对话 | 总工程师钟律
Xu, Y. & Kao, S., 30 Aug 2023, 西浦城市与环境校级研究中心.Research output: Other contribution
Open Access -
在区域协同趋势和气候变迁危机下反思中国城市与区域规划: 对谈北京大学冯长春教授
Xu, Y. & Kao, S., 2 May 2023, 西浦城市与环境校级研究中心.Research output: Other contribution
Open Access
Activities
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Cultural Production, Historiography, and Multi-scalar Politics
Shih-yang Kao (Organiser), Ying-fen Chen (Organiser), Shu-wei Tsai (Organiser), Xuefeng Wang (Chair), Shenjing He (Participant), Ben Gerlofs (Participant) & Chen Chen (Participant)
17 Apr 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising an event e.g. a conference, workshop, …
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Ruralising Culture-led Rural Regeneration in China
Xiaotong Guo (Speaker) & Shih-yang Kao (Speaker)
17 Apr 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation at conference/workshop/seminar
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Geoforum (Journal)
Shih-yang Kao (Reviewer)
2023 → …Activity: Peer-review and editorial work of publications › Publication Peer-review
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Revisiting China’s Fast-speed Urbanization: View from the Urban Construction Industry in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province
Shih-yang Kao (Supervisor)
2023Activity: Supervision › Master Dissertation Supervision
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Negotiating Design and Spatial Quality: New Requirements of Guangdong's Urban Design Review System
Shih-yang Kao (Supervisor)
2023Activity: Supervision › Master Dissertation Supervision