Getting Connected Through Walkability
In a city with high walking accessibility such as Hong Kong, “walkability” and a pedestrian-friendly environment open up facilities and community needs for more people. Not only is walkability an important urban planning consideration for more environmentally-friendly cities, but is essential from a health standpoint.
In 2017, the Hong Kong government announced that walkability would be given particular emphasis as a way of increasing mobility. Head and Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prof Hong Lo offers his wealth of knowledge in transportation system modeling, traffic control, network reliability and public transportation analysis to a highly competitive Strategic Public Policy Research project on walkability. He will draw on his expertise in transportation system modeling, travel behavior and multi-criteria analysis, in combination with building information modeling (BIM) and economic considerations to analyze and visualize walkability networks. From this, the effectiveness of existing infrastructure can be evaluated as well as directing evidence-based policies for the development and implementation of future city planning.
The current project will focus on two areas in Hong Kong – Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong.
Prof Hong Lo is Department Head and Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also the Director of GREAT Smart Cities Institute at HKUST. Prof Lo is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Transportmetrica B: Transport Dynamics, Managing Editor of Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and serve on the editorial boards of numerous international journals. In 2016, Prof Lo was selected as one of the Most Cited Researchers in Civil Engineering according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 16th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global University Employability Survey 2018.
