✦Upcoming✦ 24 SEP 2026 (THU) 16:00-17:30
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
Geography Distinguished Seminar Series
The State of Academic Human Geography in Hong Kong: A Prognosis and Prospects
Date: 24 SEP 2026 (Thursday)
Time: 16:00-17:30 (HKT)
Venue: Chamber, Faculty of Social Sciences, 11/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Mode: Hybrid
Via Zoom: Zoom link will be provided upon successful registration
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=108709
Abstract:
This presentation reflects on the evolution and state of human geography in Hong Kong’s academic institutions from the late colonial times to the new millennium and the contemporary era. In particular, I focus on the key strengths, weaknesses, and prospects of human geography research in Hong Kong and its changing role as a global knowledge hub for human geographers in Greater China and beyond. Drawing on my original 2024 benchmarking data from Scopus, I place the nature and impact of human geographers’ work in both CUHK and HKU in relation to their global aspirant and peer groups. Arguing for the decentering of Anglo-American Geography as an unfinished project and a reworlding of geographical epistemology, I examine both the urgent need and the timely context for new conceptual development via concepts and theories with “Chinese characteristics” from Hong Kong. Illustrations are provided through an engagement with, and a critique of, two most cited human geographers in their respective eras – David Harvey’s (2005) view of China as neoliberalism with “Chinese characteristics” and Jamie Peck’s (2023; 2025) reading of the Greater Bay Area as the frontier of party-state capitalism in China.
Professor Henry Wai-chung YEUNG
Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management, Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Henry Wai-chung Yeung received his BA (1st Class) from the National University of Singapore in 1992 and PhD from the University of Manchester in 1995. He was Distinguished Professor (and Professor of Economic Geography since 2005) at the National University of Singapore until end 2024. From 2025, he has been the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the recipient of multiple research awards, including the 2022 Sir Peter Hall Award for Lifetime Contribution by the Regional Studies Association in the UK, the 2018 Distinguished Scholarship Honors by the American Association of Geographers, and the 2017 Murchison Award by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), UK. He has published 7 monographs and 1 textbook (3 editions), 7 edited books, 120 journal articles, and 55 book chapters. His most recent books are Theory and Explanation in Geography (Wiley, 2024), Interconnected Worlds: Global Electronics and Production Networks in East Asia (Stanford University Press, 2022; multi-award winning). Professor Yeung’s scholarly work is highly cited and ranked among the top geographers in the world. The Sept 2025 update of the Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists ranked him 19th among all 16,302 top 2% authors in the field of Geography and 7,637th among all 230,333 top 2% scientists (4th in social sciences and 62nd among all 1,481 top 2% scientists from Hong Kong). He is Editor-in-Chief of Environment and Planning A (Editor, 2001-2025), past Editor of Economic Geography (2001-2025) and Review of International Political Economy (2004-2013). He sits on the editorial boards of two book series and 17 other international journals.
