On March 28, 2025, the Institute of Urban and Sustainable Development (IUSD) was established at the City University of Macau. As the eleventh faculty of the City University of Macao and the first interdisciplinary and comprehensive faculty, the Institute of Urban and Sustainable Development (IUSD) is positioned to implement the national strategy of modernization and refinement of urban development and governance, to systematically carry out research on the complexity of the city as an object, and to meet the huge demand for human resources training, scientific research, and local services for the development and renewal of the cities of Macao and the Greater Bay Area, as well as for the governance and intelligent application of urban development and renewal in the next few decades. The Institute will focus on the urban development and renewal, governance and smart applications in the next few decades, as well as the huge demand for human resources training, scientific research and local services. The Institute will focus on the four major directions of urban development and renewal, urban governance, urban smart applications, and sustainable urban development, and through the establishment of relevant courses in Urban Planning and Design, Urban Management and Public Policy, Urban Informatics, and Urban Resilience and Sustainability, the Institute will form a highly integrated and innovative institute with the cross-fertilization of engineering, social sciences, and sciences.

With the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Macao Foundation, and the Macao Foundation for Science and Technology Development, the Institute has initiated a large number of research projects in the areas of urban complexity, land use, transportation, heritage conservation, microenvironment, resilience, and governance. In order to realize the goal of “Serving Macau”, the Institute plans to engage in regular exchanges and cooperation with the government, the community and the industry, and to actively participate in the urban renewal, diversified and inclusive development of Macau, providing professional consultation, project evaluation and technical support. At the same time, the Institute will build a bridge between academia and society, and create a series of training and popularization activities for local decision-makers and residents, in an effort to promote the various actions of “Serving Macao”.

Cities and sustainable development are important issues for the future of humanity. It is my sincere hope that all students who are studying in the Institute or who aspire to do so will remain curious and enthusiastic, acquire solid professional knowledge, develop cross-disciplinary and innovative thinking, and have an international outlook, so as to make full use of Macao's advantages as a window on Chinese and Western cultures, and to promote the green, smart and sustainable development of the city.

Han Haoying

Professor, Director of the Academic Committee, and Founding Executive Vice President, Institute for Urban and Sustainable Development (IUSD)

August 18, 2025