PolyU SCRI and ISUI hosted the Global Smart Cities Summit cum the 4th International Conference on Urban Informatics. Officiating guests of the Opening Ceremony are Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, PolyU President (6th from right); Dr Stephen Wong, Head of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government (6th from left); Dr Otto POON, Founder of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation and PolyU University Fellow (5th from right); Prof. Michael GOODCHILD, Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (5th from left); Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) (4th from right); Prof. Kar-kan LING, PolyU Interim Vice President (Campus Development and Facilities) (4th from left); Mr POON Kwok Ying, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services (3rd from right); Mr CHANG Kwok Fai, Deputy Director of Lands Department (Survey and Mapping) (3rd from left); Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR (2nd from right); Mr LEE Hong Nin, Robin, Deputy Director of Drainage Services (2nd from left); Prof. John SHI, Director of SCRI (1st from right); and Prof. Xiangdong LI, PolyU Dean of Faculty of Construction and Environment (1st from left).
Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, PolyU President said that through SCRI under the PAIR, the University will further integrate interdisciplinary research capabilities to drive sustainable development in Hong Kong and cities worldwide.
Dr Stephen Wong, Head of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government said that the Conference is a perfect demonstration of our ongoing efforts to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration with international peers.
A team led by Prof. John Shi, Director of SCRI, Chair Professor of Geographical Information Science and Remote Sensing, and President of ISUI, announced the Smart City Index 2025 at a media briefing. (From left) Ms Fan SHI, PhD student of the PolyU Department of Land Surveying and Geo Informatics; Prof. John SHI; and Dr Anshu ZHANG, Research Assistant Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics.
The Global Smart Cities Summit cum the 4th International Conference on Urban Informatics, co-organised by the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the International Society for Urban Informatics (ISUI), commenced today. The three-day conference brings together over 240 speakers from around the world to share cutting-edge insights and innovations in urban informatics and smart city development, attracting over 600 scholars and industry professionals. During the event, a PolyU research team announced the Smart City Index, which aims to help cities worldwide formulate sustainable development strategies.
Prof. Jin-Guang TENG, PolyU President said, “Pressing urban challenges — from energy insecurity and global warming to ageing populations and land shortages — demand innovative thinking and multifaceted solutions. As one of PolyU’s strategic innovation domains, smart cities have long been a focus of research, encompassing big data analytics, remote sensing, geomatics computing, and other cutting-edge disciplines. Through SCRI under the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR), we will further integrate interdisciplinary research capabilities to drive sustainable development in Hong Kong and cities worldwide.”
Dr Stephen WONG Yuen-shan, Head of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government said, “Hong Kong has always valued and continuously leveraged its role as a ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’ status as an international city. The Conference is a perfect demonstration of our ongoing efforts to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration with international peers. The Smart City Index developed by PolyU research team also gives us good insight into best practices of how cities around the world serve the lived experiences, needs and wellbeing of its citizens.”
The Conference aims to advance global smart city development and urban informatics to provide a scientific foundation for smart cities. By integrating urban science, geographic information science and computer science, urban informatics leverages its interdisciplinary advantage to develop innovative solutions for addressing complex urban challenges. The Conference features keynote speeches by internationally renowned scientists, forums with government and industry leaders, and innovation and technology exhibitions. The event serves as an excellent platform to foster collaborations among government, industry, academia, and research sectors in the field of smart cities.
SCRI and ISUI also jointly announced the ISUI Smart City Index 2025, developed by a team led by Prof. John Wenzhong SHI, Director of SCRI, Chair Professor of Geographical Information Science and Remote Sensing, and President of ISUI. The Index utilises a human-centric evaluation framework, comprising six dimensions — citizen, environment, social landscape, economy, infrastructure and governance, across 97 indicators. With a focus on how smart city initiatives enhance the daily lives of citizens, the Index empowers cities around the globe to assess their progress and enables authorities to better formulate strategies for a smarter and more sustainable future.
Conventional smart city assessments typically emphasise the priorities of advanced economies and tend to rely on restricted data. In contrast, the Smart City Index adopts an inclusive approach applicable to cities across all development stages – from advanced, to developing and emerging economies, and utilises only publicly available data. This broader perspective enables more relevant and effective policy formulation worldwide.
The Index assessed 73 cities worldwide, with the top 10 ranked cities being Stockholm, Washington, D.C., Barcelona, London, Tokyo, Zurich, New York, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, and Oslo. Hong Kong ranked eighth globally and second in Asia, outperforming major regional competitors such as Singapore, as well as key cities in Europe and North America. Notably, Hong Kong excelled in the dimensions of environment, economy, and governance.
In addition, the Conference will host presentation of the Outstanding Achievement Award in Urban Informatics, the Smart City Technology Innovation Awards, the Paper of the Year Award for ISUI’s journal Urban Informatics, and the Best Conference Paper Award.
Details of the Conference: https://www.isocui.org/icui2025
Full report of the Smart City Index 2025: https://www.isocui.org/smart_city_index
