City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

located in

Kowloon Tong Kowloon Tong () is an area of Hong Kong located in Kowloon. The majority of the area is in the Kowloon City District. Its exaclocationis south of the Lion Rock, north of Boundary Street, east of the East Rail line and west of Grampian Road. It ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is one of the top 100 universities in the world. The university has nine main schools offering courses in business, science, engineering, liberal arts and social sciences, law, and veterinary medicine, along with

Chow Yei Ching Chow Yei-ching, (Chinese: 周亦卿; 1 September 1935 – 29 July 2018) was a Hong Kong businessman who was the chairman, managing director and chairman emeritus of Chevalier International Holdings, an international conglomerate, comprising ...

School of Graduate Studies, CityU Shenzhen Research Institute, and Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study.

History

City University's origins lie in the calls for a "second polytechnic" in the years following the 1972 establishment of the Hong Kong Polytechnic. In 1982, Executive Council member

Chung Sze-yuen Sir Sze-yuen Chung, (; 3 November 1917 – 14 November 2018), often known as Sir S.Y. Chung, was a Hong Kong politician and businessman who served as a Senior Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils during the 1970s and 1980s i ...

spoke of a general consensus that "a second polytechnic of similar size to the first should be built as soon as possible." District administrators from Tuen Mun and

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a town built on a bay in the western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite of Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged from the surrounding villages and fl ...

lobbied the government to build the new institution in their respective

new towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

. The government instead purchased temporary premises at the new Argyle Centre Tower II in Mong Kok, a property developed by the

Mass Transit Railway Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong ...

in concert with the then- Argyle station. The new school was called ''City Polytechnic of Hong Kong'', a name chosen among nearly 300 suggestions made by members of the public. The new polytechnic opened on 8 October 1984, welcoming 480 full-time and 680 part-time students. The provision for part-time students contributed to high enrolment, with the quota being filled almost immediately. A tract of land on the former site of a village named was chosen for the new campus. The architectural contract to design the campus was won by

Percy Thomas Partnership Percy Thomas Partnership was the trading name of the award-winning British architectural practice established some time between 1965 and 1973 as the successor to a series of earlier partnerships originally set up by Percy Thomas (1883–1969) in Car ...

in association with Alan Fitch and W.N. Chung. It was originally slated to open by October 1988. The first phase was officially opened by Governor Wilson on 15 January 1990, and boasted 14 lecture theatres and 1,500 computers. By 1991, the school had over 8,000 full-time students and approximately 3,000 part-time students. The second phase of the permanent campus opened 1993. The school achieved university status in 1994 and the name was changed accordingly. In April 2015 the university abruptly and controversially shut down its MFA programme in creative writing. Students and alumni launched a petition against the decision, while the faculty and noted international writers issued an open letter questioning the reasoning behind the closure. Acclaimed Canadian novelist and faculty member Madeleine Thien, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', was among those who attributed the decision to censorship and diminishing freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

Rankings & Reputation

CityU was ranked 54th worldwide in the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

2023 and 99th worldwide in the

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarel ...

2023. Most young universities rankings placed CityU among the top 10 globally. CityU graduates ranked 89th worldwide in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.

Campus

City University of Hong Kong occupies an urban campus located in Kowloon. The official address is Tat Chee Avenue,

, Kowloon. Administratively, it is part of Sham Shui Po District. Some buildings of the main campus are marked as located in Shek Kip Mei neighbourhood instead of Kowloon Tong in the official address book, such as Nam Shan Building. The main campus is connected to

Festival Walk Festival Walk is a shopping centre in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong developed jointly by Swire Properties and CITIC Pacific between 1993 and 1998. At the time of its opening in November 1998, it was the biggest shopping mall in Hong Kong. Festiv ...

shopping centre and Kowloon Tong station, which serves the

East Rail line The East Rail line () is one of ten lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It used to be one of the three lines of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) network. It was known as the KCR British Section () from 1910 to 199 ...

and Kwun Tong line of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system. It is also adjacent to

Shek Kip Mei Park Shek Kip Mei Park () is an urban park located in Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong near an area noted for its temporary housing built on a hillside. It is one of the largest parks in Sham Shui Po. Facilities There is an indoor sports centre with a fitness ...

and

Nam Shan Estate Nam Shan Estate is a public housing estate in Shek Kip Mei, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, formerly known as Academic 1, was also called "Academic Building" before the completion of Academic 2. It was completed in stages from 1989 to 1994. The floor area is , and includes 116 laboratories, 18 lecture halls, classrooms and canteens. The building is divided by colour, in order of purple zone (P), green zone (G), blue zone (B), yellow zone (Y) and red zone (R). Except for the lecture halls, all classrooms and laboratories are numbered by their colour divisions.

Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building

Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building, previously called Academic 2, was designed by architecture firm

Aedas Aedas is an architectural firm with eleven International offices founded by the Welsh architect Keith Griffiths. Aedas provides services in architecture, interior design, urban design, masterplanning and graphic design. It was established in 2002 ...

. With a total area of , it is located on the slope behind the sports complex on the campus, and is equipped with a resource centre, design room, computer room, language practice room, and student dining hall, classrooms, lecture halls, audio-visual rooms, multi-purpose activity rooms and sky gardens.

Lau Ming Wai Academic Building

Lau Ming Wai Academic Building was called Academic 3. The academic building project is divided into two phases. The first phase is a 20-storey high-rise building, and the second phase is a five-storey low-rise building with a total usable area of . It is the tallest building in CityU. Facilities include a 600-seat auditorium, classrooms, information technology laboratories, millimetre wave state key laboratories, restaurants, learning shared spaces, and administrative offices. The building was designed by the Hong Kong architectural firm

Ronald Lu & Partners Ronald Lu & Partners (RLP, ) is a Hong Kong architecture and interior design firm founded by Ronald Lu in 1976. The practice provides architecture, interior design and master planning services in various sectors including culture and community, ...

. The third and sixth floors are connected to the Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building, while the fifth to seventh floors are connected to the student dormitory and Shaw Creative Media Centre. There are also terrace gardens on the 6th, 7th and 8th floors.

Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre

Run Run Shaw Sir Run Run Shaw (19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong entertainment mogul and philanthropist. He was one of the most influential figures in the Asian entertainment industry. He founde ...

Creative Media Centre was completed in 2011. It was designed by

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

cooperating with Leigh and Orange Ltd., and received several awards for its design. The building houses the university's School of Creative Media, the Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media and the computer science, media and communication, and English departments.

Jockey Club One Health Tower

Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre was a five-storey sports centre which houses a multi-purpose hall and four practice gymnasiums for badminton, basketball, volleyball, martial arts and dance, and other activities. In May 2016, the sports hall roof collapsed due to the weight imposed by a new

green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and draina ...

placed on top. In November 2017, the university decided to rebuild the sport hall into the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, a ...

One Health Tower, which is expected to be completed in 2022.

Governance

Established in 1984 under Chapter 1132 of the Laws of Hong Kong (City University of Hong Kong Ordinance), CityU is one of the eight statutory universities in Hong Kong. Like other statutory universities in Hong Kong, the

chief Executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...

acts as the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of CityU. Prior to the Handover, this was a ceremonial title bestowed upon the

governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kon ...

Council

The council is the supreme governing body of the university. The

chief executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...

has the power to appoint 15 of the 23 council members, seven of which are named directly and eight appointed upon recommendation of the council. The chief executive can also appoint the chairman, deputy and treasurer; the vice-chancellor is in turn appointed by the council.

Senate

The senate serves as the supreme academic body of the university and is responsible for deciding and reforming the university's academic policies. It is mainly composed of academic staff members but also includes the two representatives of the Students' Union and a representative of CityU Postgraduate Association.

Academic organisation

The university's teaching units are grouped under 10 colleges and schools, offering over 150 postgraduate, undergraduate taught programmes.

Student life

Student residence

Student residences are located on Cornwall Street, near Lau Ming Wai academic building. They provide housing and recreational space for undergraduates and postgraduates. Among them, halls 1 to 9 were designed by the British firm RMJM, while halls 10 and 11 were designed by

P&T Group P&T Group (), formerly known as Palmer and Turner Hong Kong (Chinese: 公和洋行; "Kung Wo Yeung Hong"), is an architectural firm in Hong Kong. It is one of the oldest architecture and engineering firms in the world, and it has designed many ...

. Most halls are named after donors: * Undergraduates: Jockey Club Humanity Hall (Hall 1), HSBC Prosperity Hall (Hall 2), Alumni Civility Hall (Hall 3), Jockey Club Academy Hall (Hall 4), Chan Sui Kau Hall (Hall 5), Lee Shau Kee Hall (Hall 6), Jockey Club Harmony Hall (Hall 7), Sir Gordon and Lady Ivy Wu Hall (Hall 9), Hall 10, Hall 11 * Research postgraduates: Yip Yuen Yuk Hing Hall (Hall 8), Jockey Club House The university also provides off-campus accommodation and short term accommodation for non-local students.

Student clubs

Student clubs in CityU are diverse. There are more than 80 clubs from interest groups, residents’ associations and departmental Societies, along with cultural groups including orchestra, choir and debate teams.

Sport teams

Sport teams are mentored by Student Development Services. In April 2017, they have extended their dominance in sports competitions by winning a record-breaking ninth Grand Slam in the 2016-2017 annual sports competitions. There are 18 sports teams in total. The university has over 400 athletes in 16 sports events. * Athletics * Badminton * Basketball * Cross country * Dragon boat * Fencing * Handball * Karatedo * Rugby * Soccer * Squash * Swimming * Table tennis * Taekwondo * Tennis * Volleyball * Woodball * Water polo

Publications

City University of Hong Kong Press

City University of Hong Kong Press was founded in 1996 as the publishing arm of the university. It mainly publishes three types of publications: academic works, professional books, and books of general interest and social concern. The press focuses on China studies, Hong Kong studies, Asian studies, politics and public policy.

University publication

Alumni

* Christopher Cheung – CEO of Christfund Securities and legislative councillor * David Chung Wai-keung – undersecretary for Innovation and Technology Bureau * Kam Nai-wai – legislative councillor * Christine Loh – undersecretary for the environment * Bona Mugabe – daughter of former president of Zimbabwe and ZANU-PF leader, Robert Mugabe * Paul Tse – legislative councillor * Lau Kong-wah – undersecretary of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, former legislative councillor *

Matthew Wong Matthew Wong (; March 8, 1984 – October 2, 2019) was a Canadian artist. Self-taught as a painter, Wong received critical acclaim for his work before his death in 2019 at the age of 35. Roberta Smith, co-chief art critic at '' The New York Time ...

– noted painter * Jozev Kiu - noted

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

fiction writer and lyricist * Fiona Sit - singer and actress *

Anson Lo Anson Lo Hon-ting (; born 7 July 1995) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. In 2018, Lo made his debut as a member of the Hong Kong boy group Mirror. Lo made his solo debut in February 2020 with his first single "A Lifelong Mission" (一 ...

– singer and actor; member of Hong Kong Cantopop group

MIRROR A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

* Alton Wong – singer and actor; member of Hong Kong Cantopop group

Ian Chan Ian Chan Cheuk-yin (; born 9 June 1993), is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor, and a member of the Cantopop group Mirror. He was a former volleyball player for the Hong Kong men's national volleyball team and South China Athletic Associat ...

– singer and actor; member of Hong Kong Cantopop group

* Stanley Yau – singer and actor; member of Hong Kong Cantopop group

Controversies

Collapse of roof of the sport hall

On 20 May 2016, the roof structure of a multi-purpose sports hall, named Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall (the Sports Hall), in Hu Fa Kuang Sports Centre (the Sports Centre) collapsed. Two staff members of CityU sustained minor injuries and a third individual was in shock in the incident. The venue was scheduled to hold the annual celebration banquet of CityU athletes on that night and 700 to 800 student athletes were supposed to attend. The investigation report released by the

Buildings Department The Buildings Department (BD) is a department of the Hong Kong Government responsible for building codes, building safety, and inspection. It was founded in 1993 and is now subordinate to the Development Bureau The Development Bureau (DE ...

said three factors contributed to the collapse - a leveled layer of material applied to the surface of the roof structure being thicker than the original design, the laying of greenery on the roof and large puddles of water. CityU did not seek separate advice from an independent surveyor to conduct feasibility studies and designs before tendering out to consultants or contractors to carry out the project. The report issued by CityU investigation committee concluded that contractor of the green roof project held liable for the collapse of the roof at a sports centre, despite his repeated denial that he was involved in the work. It was reported that CityU vice-president Sunny Lee Wai-kwong, who oversees the Campus Development and Facilities Office escaped liability, while technical staff would face disciplinary action.

QS ranking dispute

In 2017 City University was accused of falsifying student data for a better ranking. City University said they would submit the case to external audit firm to verify the data. City University of Hong Kong has been accused of providing misleading information to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) to boost its university rankings. However, the QS review confirmed that the data submitted by CityU is accurate. In January 2018, CityU issued a statement stating that it had commissioned an accounting firm to complete an independent review of the student data declared by CityU and confirmed that it found no declarations that did not meet the scope of QS requirements.

Chinese judges hold Communist Party meeting on campus

On 20 October 2018, National Judges College under the Supreme People's Court of China had uploaded an article to its website about a meeting held by "provisional branches of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

" at CityU. According to the article, 39 party members, including Huang Wenjun, president and party secretary of the National Judges College and 11 non-party members, attended the meeting and gave a lecture. Huang told attendees that judges must take a "clear-cut stance" on politics, increase their political sensitivity, learn

socialism with Chinese characteristics Socialism with Chinese characteristics ( zh, s=中国特色社会主义, hp=Zhōngguó tèsè shèhuìzhǔyì) is a set of political theories and policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that are seen by their proponents as representing M ...

in Communist Party leader

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

's new era, and that they should fight against "incorrect words and deeds." Despite the party branches were formed by Chinese judges who studied at CityU, Professor Lin Feng, associate dean of CityU's law school who liaised with the college in organizing the courses, said the lecture "had caught the faculty by surprise". Pro-Beijing legislator Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, an associate law professor at CityU, refused to comment, claiming that she was not aware of the arrangement. Spokesperson for CityU said it maintains political neutrality and that no activities involving politics should be held inside campuses.

Intervention of students' academic autonomy

In October 2019, Professor Tan who was teaching a digital marketing course sent an email to the students, which warned the students not to deliver any political messages in class presentations or they will be given zero marks. The e-mail caused dissatisfaction among the students. Pro-democracy group Frontline Technology Workers pointed out that the presentations were relevant to the course although it was touching the social taboo. They also highlighted academic journal articles which discussed the relationship between politics and marketing. Students' Union questioned university's promise on academic autonomy.

New security measures and installations of turnstiles

In November 2019, CityU prohibited all student entering the campus and student hostel area, as protestors damaged some of the facilities during the Siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. CityU reopened campus on 30 November but staff and students will be required to present their identity cards to gain entry. In December, hoarding panels has been built surrounding the whole campus and turnstiles have been installed at all entrances. CityU issued a press release, stating that the vast majority of members of the Senate and the Court of CityU supported the improvement of campus security measures and the installation of an electronic access system. Students' Union responded that all the representatives of the Student Union unanimously opposed the installation of turnstiles, and the representatives also voted against it in the Court's meeting. The Student Union quoted an earlier questionnaire survey conducted by CityU Staff Association, stating that most of the respondents agree that "university campuses should be opened to the public." The Students' Union has repeatedly expressed objections to the university's policy of prohibiting public access to the campus and urged the university to consult teachers and students on the issue.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Science and technology in Hong Kong Sham Shui Po District Yau Yat Tsuen Educational institutions established in 1984 Percy Thomas buildings 1984 establishments in Hong Kong Veterinary schools in Hong Kong