Kyushu University: Q-AOS Symposium 2021: Past, Present and Future of the City

As part of Kyushu University Asia Week 2021, which ran from October 13 to 27, the Kyushu University Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies (Q-AOS) hosted the symposium “Past, Present and Future of the City—What does the next 100 years look like?” on October 13 and 14.

The symposium aimed to promote interdisciplinary research and educational activities through exchanges traversing academic and international boundaries. As the global population migrates to urban centers, the success of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas such as poverty, climate change, healthcare, and education will hinge on how cities evolve and grow. The title of the 2021 symposium was decided based on a shared understanding that initiatives implemented at the city and regional levels will prove crucial for the success of urban centers over the next century.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s symposium was held online. On the first day, leading experts and Kyushu University faculty members held guest lectures and panel discussions to highlight strategies and challenges for urban sustainability in the Asia and Oceania region. For the second day, business leaders joined academic researchers to give presentations across six thematic group sessions to facilitate interdisciplinary and integrative discussions between researchers from different fields of expertise.

The two-day online symposium saw a cumulative total of more than 400 attendees, with lively discussions following each session’s thought-provoking presentations, helping to further a dialogue on how cities will continue to evolve over the next century.