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【Forum 24.07.2026】 2026 Sino–UK Symposium on Rural Geography and Spatial Planning
Release time：2026-07-14
2026 Sino–UK Symposium on
Rural Geography and Spatial Planning
Sino | Symposium Preview | UK |
On 24 July 2026, the 2026 Sino–UK Symposium on Rural Geography and Spatial Planning will be held at Tongji University in Shanghai. Centred on the theme of Urban–Rural Integration, Rural Transformation and Spatial Planning in Metropolitan Countryside , the symposium brings together prominent scholars from both countries in the fields of rural geography and spatial planning to engage in systematic dialogue on cutting-edge issues including rural-urban interface restructuring, population mobilities and polarisation, rural gentrification, multi-functional rural transition, digital platformisation, and youth in-migration. The symposium aims to foster comparative and mutual learning between Chinese and UK rural studies, respond to contemporary challenges such as rapid urbanisation, climate transition, and spatial justice, and build a cross-national, interdisciplinary academic platform. It aspires to contribute scholarly insights to global rural sustainable development and spatial governance innovation.
Sino | Time | UK |
24 July 2026
Sino | Venue | UK |
Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor, Wenyuan Building, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Sino | Agenda | UK |
Friday, 24 July 2026
Theme: Urban–Rural Integration, Rural Transformation and Spatial Planning in Metropolitan Countryside
Date | Theme | Format |
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration | |
09:00 – 09:30 | Opening Ceremony | Welcoming remarks and group photograph Prof. Zhiqiang Wu Prof. Shangwu Zhang |
09:30 – 10:00 | Keynote 1 | Prof. Michael Woods From Planetary Urbanisation to Planetary Rural Geographies: Rethinking Urban-Rural Relations in the Global Countryside |
10:00 – 10:30 | Keynote2 | Prof. Darren Smith The 21st century British countryside: changing populations and polarisation |
10:30 – 11:00 | Tea Break | |
11:00 – 11:20 | Keynote 3 | Prof. Yurui Li Rural Elites, Collective Action and Territorial Development |
11:20 – 11:40 | Keynote 4 | Prof. Yuheng Li Diagnosis of Global Rural Decline |
11:40 – 12:00 | Keynote 5 | Assoc. Prof. Huang Huang Post-Rural Urbanization: Rural Development and Restructuring through a Relational Turn |
12:00 – 13:30 | Lunch | |
13:30 – 14:00 | Report Launch | Prof. Chen Chen Rural Spatiotemporal Vitality Sensing and Diagnosis via Digital Intelligence |
14:00 – 14:30 | Keynote 6 | Prof. Martin Phillips Rural Gentrification in Comparison |
14:30 – 14:50 | Keynote 7 | Assoc. Prof. Cheng Chen “Two Side” Social Capital Empowering the Reconfiguration of Agri-food Value Chain around Smallholder Farmers“ |
14:50 – 15:10 | Keynote 8 | Asst. Prof. Jin Zhu Rural entrepreneurialism and managed gentrification: Orchestrating rural revitalisation in China |
15:10 – 15:30 | Tea Break | |
15:30 – 16:00 | Keynote 9 | Prof. Louise Holt New rural geographies of educational inequalities |
16:00 – 16:20 | Keynote 10 | Assoc. Prof. Hao Gu Rural Housing Renovation in China: A Collaborative Governance Perspective |
16:20 – 16:40 | Keynote 11 | Dr. Shengxi Xin Theorising Rural Revitalisation: Neo-exogenous Development and State-driven Social Innovation |
16:40 – 17:00 | Tea Break | |
17:00 – 18:10 | Roundtable Discussion | Urban–Rural Integration, Rural Transformation and Spatial Planning in Metropolitan Countryside — UK-China Comparative Perspectives |
18:10 – 18:30 | Closing Ceremony | Closing remarks by the symposium convener (Prof. Chen Chen) |
Speakers
Listed in alphabetical order
UK Speakers
Darren Smith
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Professor of Geography at Loughborough University, Researcher at the Cambridge Interdisciplinary Spatial Analysis Laboratory, Adjunct Professor at Hunan University, and Highly-Skilled Talent Recognised by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. Chair of the Commission on Population Geography of the International Geographical Union (IGU), Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Rural Studies, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Population, Space and Place.
Louise Holt
Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University, Professor of Human Geography, Founder and Chair of the International Conferences on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families, and Former Editor-in-Chief of Children's Geographies.
Michael Woods
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Professor of Human Geography at Aberystwyth University, Director of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership, Co-Director of the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD), and Former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Rural Studies.
Martin Phillips
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leicester, Director of the Centre for Critical and Creative Geographies, Chair of the Rural Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), and Research Director of Rural England.
Chinese Speakers
Yurui Li
Professor, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Deputy Director, Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Analysis and Simulation, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuheng Li
Professor, School of Humanities and Law, Northeastern University; Vice Dean, Institute of Urban and Rural Community Construction Research
Chen Chen
Professor, Vice Dean, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. Vice Chairman of the Youth Work Committee of the Urban Planning Society of China. Vice Chairman of the Committee for Spatial Planning and Governance Research of the China Society for Urban Studies
Hao Gu
Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, Hunan University
Cheng Chen
Associate Professor, Department of Regional Human and Economic Geography, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Huang Huang
Associate Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Jin Zhu
Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong
Shengxi Xin
Associate Research Fellow, Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute Co., Ltd. Postdoctoral Researcher, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Symposium Support
Organiser
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Co-organising Institutions
WUPEN — World Urban Planning Education Network
Youth Working Committee of Urban Planning Society of China
Committee for Spatial Planning and Governance Research of the China Society for Urban Studies
Shanghai Rural Revitalization Research Center
Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute
GUIHUA: Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning
Urban Planning Forum
Organising Team
Integrated Urban-Rural Development Laboratory, Tongji University
Tongji Association for Rural Revitalization
Practical Information
Item | Information |
Venue | Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor, Wenyuan Building, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092 |
Symposium Language | English |
Contact Person
| Dr. Zhongyi Nie: nie_zy0514@163.com |
