News

20 SCRI Scholars ranked among World's Top 2% Most-cited Scientists 2025

A total of 20 scholars from SCRI were ranked among the “World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists 2025” in the latest list released by Stanford University. The named SCRI scholars were included in the “Career-long Impact” list based on their career-long citation impact.   The World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists is compiled by Stanford University based on composite indicators of publication impact, including total citations, citations to single-authored publications and the H-index. It covers 22 subject fields and 174 sub-fields, and is divided into two lists in relation to scholars’ career-long citation and single-year citation impact, recognising their long-term and recent research impact.   SCRI is very proud to announce that the following members are on the "Career-long Impact" list: SCRI Scholars Field Prof. SHI Wenzhong, John Geological & Geomatics Engineering Ir Prof. NIU Jianlei Building & Construction Prof. CHEN Xiaojun Operations Research Prof. LI Ping, Andrew Experimental Psychology Prof. AWANGE Joseph Geological & Geomatics Engineering Prof. CAO Jiannong Networking & Telecommunications Prof. CHEN Anthony Logistics & Transportation Prof. CHEN Changwen Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing Prof. CHEN Jianli Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Prof. HSU Li-ta Networking & Telecommunications Prof. HUANG Xinyan Energy Ir Prof. LAM Hing-keung, William Logistics & Transportation Prof. LUO Xiapu, Daniel Networking & Telecommunications Ir Prof. MAK Cheuk Ming Building & Construction Ir Prof. MUI Kwok Wai, Horace Building & Construction Prof. SHEN Qiping, Geoffrey Building & Construction Prof. TAN Kaychen Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing Prof. WENG Qihao Geological & Geomatics Engineering Prof. XIAO Bin Networking & Telecommunications Prof. ZHU Xiaolin Geological & Geomatics Engineering

PolyU and Lands Department join forces to drive surveying and geospatial innovations for Hong Kong’s digital transformation

PolyU and the Lands Department of the HKSAR Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 12 September 2025 to establish a collaborative framework for advancing the development of smart survey, mapping and geospatial services that incorporate authoritative standards. Through pioneering research, providing technological training and facilitating technology enhancement, this partnership aims to accelerate the City’s transformation into smart Hong Kong.   At the signing ceremony held on the University campus, Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, and Mr CHANG Kwok-fai, Deputy Director (Survey and Mapping) of the Lands Department, signed the MoU. They were joined by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR); Prof. CHEN Wu, Head of the PolyU Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI); Prof. DING Xiaoli, Director of the PolyU Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS); Prof. John SHI Wenzhong, Director of the PolyU Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI); Prof. WENG Qihao, Director of the PolyU Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG); Mr CHU Siu-ki, Assistant Director (Survey and Mapping) of the Lands Department; and other guests to witness this noteworthy occasion.   In his welcoming address, Prof. Wang Zuankai said, “From urban planning and environmental monitoring to disaster response and resource management, spatial data and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the way we understand and interact with our environment. We envision that, by bringing together Survey and Mapping Office (SMO)’s authoritative expertise and professional experience, with PolyU’s academic excellence, cutting-edge research and innovative drive, this MoU will strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a global smart city leader and create a legacy of innovation and prosperity for our community.”   Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr Chang Kwok-fai said that the partnership combines the PolyU’s research excellence with the Lands Department’s practical experience, marking a significant step towards modernising Hong Kong’s geospatial technologies. Through the partnership, Lands Department will promote the application of innovative solutions to enhance land administration efficiency and support Hong Kong’s development as a smart city.   Under the collaborative framework, four academic and research units at PolyU—namely LSGI, RILS, SCRI and RCAIG—will join forces to collaborate with SMO in research, education and knowledge transfer, primarily focusing on interdisciplinary areas of land surveying, geographic information systems, remote sensing, smart city, AI and location-based technology.   In pursuing related initiatives, the two parties plan to establish a joint research centre, where PolyU will contribute personnel and technical resources, while SMO will offer professional and industrial insights. The centre will seek to optimise and apply a range of methods, practices and technologies related to surveying, Satellite Positioning Reference Station Network (SatRef), advanced unmanned aerial vehicles, geospatial data integration and analytics, and smart address management for enhancing efficiency and accuracy in urban planning and development of Hong Kong. In addition, PolyU and SMO will consider providing industry practitioners and relevant government staff with training on the latest surveying and geospatial technologies and practices.   Prof. Chen Qingyan highlighted the significance of PolyU’s interdisciplinary research in supporting the sustainable development of Hong Kong. He said, “Smart and sustainable cities is one of the key domains of PolyU’s interdisciplinary research. Under this theme, we combine expertise from diverse fields—spanning land surveying, geo-informatics, civil engineering, computing and AI—to pursue research innovations in spatial data analytics, system integration, infrastructure design and sensing technology. We then translate our discoveries into technologies and recommendations for adoption by industry and government, with the aim of making meaningful contributions to improving urban planning and land resource management.”   Prof. Wu Chen stressed the importance of this government-academia collaboration. He elaborated, “SMO possesses valuable datasets, regulatory frameworks and practical insights into urban challenges, while PolyU contributes cutting-edge research, technical expertise, and innovative solutions. By working together, we can bridge the gap between theory and practice, ensuring that scientific advancements are effectively translated into real-world applications. Ultimately, this collaboration will accelerate the creation of a smarter, more sustainable Hong Kong by leveraging the strengths of both sectors to address complex urban issues and improve the quality of life for citizens.”   PAIR constituent research institutes participating in the programme will leverage their unique strengths to drive smart Hong Kong development. Directors of two research institutes accentuated the significance of their areas of expertise in the collaboration. Prof. Ding Xiaoli said, “The collaboration will enable colleagues from RILS and Lands Department to work jointly on land related issues important to the sustainable development of Hong Kong”. Prof. John Shi Wenzhong added, “Land surveying is essential for future spatial data infrastructure in smart cities.”   Fostering closer ties between academia, government and industry, this collaboration will drive the development of smart Hong Kong by embracing advanced surveying and geospatial innovations, and deeply integrating robust technologies to promote the City’s sustainable development.   Press release: https://polyu.me/4mfIm8E   Online coverage: Mirage - https://polyu.me/3K1qtwO Hong Kong Commercial Daily - https://polyu.me/3VMJvtn Bastille Post - https://polyu.me/4pm4WPu etnet - https://polyu.me/46zLXtw Sina HK - https://polyu.me/3VhwHLt ifeng.com - https://polyu.me/42uOtia Guan Dian - https://polyu.me/4giAh1w East Money - https://polyu.me/4ns7A4D NetEase - https://polyu.me/48eiRkA Toutiao - https://polyu.me/463A5zU Huaue - https://polyu.me/46ltJL0

Three SCRI researchers receive Smart Traffic Fund totalling HK$10 million

Congratulations to three researchers of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI), for securing over HK$10 million funding in total from the Smart Traffic Fund. The three awarded projects are as follows:   Automated Monitoring Traffic Data System for Detector Status and Non-recurrent Events – led by Prof. Edward CHUNG Chin-shin, Member of SCRI, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Driving and Speed Guidance System for Heavy Goods Vehicles – led by Prof. HUANG Hailong, Member of SCRI, Assistant Professor in the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering Smart Route Planning System – led by Dr YU Yue, Research Personnel of SCRI, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics   The Smart Traffic Fund was established by the HKSAR Government to provide funding support for projects in the research and application of innovation and technology aimed at enhancing commuting convenience, enhancing efficiency of the road network or road space, and improving driving safety.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Delegation Visits SCRI for In-Depth Exchange on Smart Cities and Digital Transformation

The PolyU Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) was pleased to host a distinguished delegation from Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) on 9 September 2025. The delegation, consisting of 2 faculty leaders and 23 high-achieving undergraduate students, visited SCRI to engage in meaningful academic exchange and explore advancements in smart city development and digital transformation. During the visit, SCRI researchers presented a comprehensive overview of the institute’s strategic projects and technological innovations. Key highlights included cutting-edge research in Urban Informatics, the application of Mobile Mapping Systems, the development of Digital Twins for urban planning, and the integration of Smart City technologies aimed at addressing complex urban challenges. The session provided valuable insights into how technology and innovation can be harnessed to create sustainable and efficient urban environments. The delegation participated in dynamic discussions, sharing perspectives and experiences related to smart city implementation and digital transformation. These exchanges fostered a mutually beneficial dialogue, strengthening collaborative ties between SJTU and SCRI while inspiring new ideas for future research and innovation. This visit underscores SCRI’s commitment to promoting knowledge exchange and building international partnerships in the pursuit of smarter, more resilient cities.

SCRI & ISUI hosts Global Smart Cities Summit cum the 4th International Conference on Urban Informatics and unveils Smart City Index 2025

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) concluded at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), uniting over 600 experts, government officials, industry leaders, and innovators from 20+ countries and attracting 110,000+ online viewers globally. The conference also brings together over 240 speakers from around the world to share cutting-edge insights and innovations in urban informatics and smart city development. 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 and Presentation 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 Conference Photos: https://www.isocui.org/icui2025/about/photo

Prof. SHI Wenzhong on Smart City Index in RTHK programmes

Prof. John SHI Wenzhong, Director of Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI), Chair Professor of Geographical Information Science and Remote Sensing, and President of the International Society for Urban Informatics, was interviewed by RTHK’s radio programmes “Hong Kong Today” and “Open Line Open View” to elaborate on the “Smart City Index”. Developed by Prof. Shi and his team, the index aims to help cities worldwide formulate sustainable smart city development strategies. Hong Kong was named second-highest performing Asian city in the rankings at eighth place.   Online coverage: RTHK Hong Kong Today - https://polyu.me/3UlPgO9 (40:28 - 44:01) RTHK Open Line Open View - https://polyu.me/4foflFS (1:06:30 - 1:16:17)

PAIR & SCRI Distinguished Lecture on Uncertainty posed by AI: Geospatial science pioneer Prof. Michael GOODCHILD dissects past, present and future

Geospatial data finds applications in a wide array of fields, including urban planning, environmental management, disaster response, and transportation, leveraging spatial patterns to support decision-making in various sectors.  Nevertheless, errors, imprecision, and complexities in datasets containing information about space and/or time can undermine the quality and reliability of spatial data and analyses.  This issue of uncertainty in geospatial science (GIS) is expected to intensify as AI-driven geospatial applications become increasingly widespread, according to Prof. Michael GOODCHILD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. On 1 August 2025 (Friday), Prof. Goodchild gave the 42nd PAIR Distinguished Lecture on the topic of “Geospatial Futures”.  Joined by 76 in-person participants and an online audience of 15,310, the Lecture reviewed the key developments and legacy practices in the evolution of GIS, revealing the forthcoming directions and future prospects in the field.  In the Lecture, Prof. Goodchild briefly introduced the history of GIS, discussing how innovations in areas including measurements, naming conventions, computing, global positioning system (GPS) and locating-measuring technologies have combined to propel the development of GIS. According to Prof. Goodchild, the explosion of data and diffusion of advanced technologies, including machine learning, generative AI and digital twins in the modern era, would present multiple new technical problems to GIScience, including geographic bias, transparency of machine learning, environmental cost, and uncertainty in predictions, challenging the fitness-for-use of geographic systems built.  In the Lecture, he emphasised a new direction for GIS: the achievement of more powerful and cheaper computation for finer-resolution data, better models, machine learning and 3D photorealism.  In illustrating the importance of computational breakthroughs for GIS, he shared several compelling examples of digital twin models that give virtual representations of physical landscapes such as volcanoes, coastal regions and urban environments.  In closing his presentation, Prof. Goodchild drew attention to the ethics of GIS, remarking that “while software developers are maximising the use of general-purpose GIS packages, the public should exercise responsibility in using the software appropriately and repurposing it.” Prof. Goodchild is a Senior Fellow at PAIR, and Chairman of the International Advisory Committee of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI). Please click here for an online review.  

SCRI scholars honoured as RGC Senior Research Fellow in recognition of outstanding research achievements

Prof. TAN Kay Chen, Head of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence, and Member of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI), has been awarded fellowships under the Research Grants Council’s (RGC) Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) and Research Fellow Scheme (RFS) 2025/26, in recognition of their outstanding research achievements in the fields of biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence, and advanced materials. Prof. Tan’s project, “Towards adaptive pretrained vision-language foundation models for medical image analysis”, aims to develop an integrated intelligent interpretation system to provide personalised and human-centric healthcare, featuring several functionalities such as visual question answering, radiology reports and computer-aided diagnosis. Press release: https://polyu.me/44KjwrY   Online coverage: Dot Dot News – https://polyu.me/419eoeA (Chinese only) hkong.hk – https://polyu.me/46VZ2hh (Chinese only)

SCRI Distinguished Lecture on Domain-Specific Acceleration Targeting AI for Science was held successfully on 8 July 2025

  The Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) successfully hosted a Distinguished Lecture on 8 July 2025, focusing on the cutting-edge field of "Domain-Specific Acceleration Targeting AI for Science". The event featured the internationally renowned Professor Wayne Luk from Imperial College London, UK, drawing an engaged audience of over 60 participants.   The lecture explored the critical role of domain-specific acceleration in advancing computer system design. He emphasized that tailoring hardware accelerators to specific computational tasks is fundamental to unlocking the full potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly for demanding scientific workloads. This customisation enables the adoption of sophisticated AI techniques across diverse application domains.   Illustrating this concept with groundbreaking work, Professor Luk detailed his team's collaboration with high-energy physics researchers at CERN. He presented the development of ultra-low-latency deep learning accelerator architectures designed for the extreme conditions of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments. A highlight was the introduction of a bespoke Graph Neural Network (GNN) accelerator capable of achieving sub-microsecond latency. This breakthrough performance is crucial for real-time event selection within the LHC's Level-1 trigger systems, where decisions must be made in billionths of a second. Furthermore, Professor Luk discussed ongoing efforts to streamline the creation of such specialized accelerators using meta-programming techniques, aiming to automate and expedite the development process for future scientific AI applications.   The lecture concluded with a dynamic Q&A session, fostering insightful discussion between attendees and Professor Luk on the challenges and future directions of domain-specific acceleration for scientific AI.  

SCRI Champions Talent Nurturing and Capacity Building – 3 SCRI RAPs secured RGC General Research Fund (GRF) for 2024 & 2025

The Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) is proud to announce that 3 Research Assistant Professors (RAPs) supported by SCRI have secured highly competitive General Research Fund (GRF) from the Research Grants Council (RGC) for the years 2024 and 2025.   This remarkable achievement underscores SCRI's commitment to nurturing the next generation of research leaders. The exceptional success rate highlights the institute's strategic focus on talent development and capacity building, providing a fertile ground for young scholars to thrive and lead innovative research in tackling future urban challenges.   The awarded GRF projects, led by SCRI's talented RAPs, address complex challenges at the forefront of smart city development:   PI Project Title Awarded Amount (HKD) Award Year Dr ZHANG Min Enhancing 3D Digital Maps with Al: Multimodalchange Detection for Data Quality Inspection and Map Revision 1,107,655 2025 Dr YU Yue Physical and Data Dual-driven Approach for Modeling Uncertainty of Spatial-temporal Human Trajectory 868,577 2025 Dr ZHANG Anshu Mining Optimized and Significant Spatial Association Rules under Spatial Autocorrelation and Concept Drift 630,951 2024