Events

This inaugural symposium marks the launch of the Urban Analytics and City Science Research Initiative at the University of Auckland Business School. The event showcases cutting-edge, transdisciplinary research across faculties and international institutions, highlighting the dynamic developments in urban analytics and city sciences.

Event details

Date: Monday 14 July, 2025

Time: 9am - 5pm

Venue: 260-223, Edith Winstone Blackwell Case Room, Sir Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, University of Auckland’s Grafton Campus

The symposium will feature international presenters and discussants exploring themes including Urban Analytics, Sustainable Real Estate, and the Inclusive Built Environment. The event will also provide an opportunity to network with researchers and industry professionals over refreshments and kai.

Register now

For more information, please contact the team:

• Associate Professor William Cheung, University of Auckland Business School: william.cheung@auckland.ac.nz
• Dr Liuming (The Chinese University of Hong Kong): liumingyang@cuhk.edu.hk

Co-organisers/sponsors

• Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland 
• UBC Sauder School of Business
• CUHK Business School, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

Keynote speaker

Robert H. Edelstein

Professor Emeritus | Maurice Mann Chair in Real Estate | Co-Chair, Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics

Robert Edelstein holds the Maurice Mann Chair in Real Estate and is the co-director of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Development at Berkeley Haas. He is the author of the book, “Explaining the Boom Cycle, Speculation or Fundamentals? The Role of Real Estate in the Asian Crisis”. Edelstein has served as a consultant to the Philadelphia Finance Department, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Housing Development Corporation of New York City, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and the U.S. Department of Energy. He served as president of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association in 1996.

Presenters and discussants

Tsur Somerville, Professor, Sauder School of Business at UBC

Desmond Tsang, Associate Professor of Real Estate, CUHK Business School's School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Co-Director of the Centre for Hospitality and Real Estate Research 

Liuming Yang, Assistant Professor of Real Estate Finance at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School

I-Ting Chuang, Director of Urban Design and Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland

Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka, Senior Lecturer in Geographic Information Science (GIS) at the School of Environment, University of Auckland

Sowon Kim, Lecturer at the Department of Property, University of Auckland

Sara Ali, Senior Lecturer working as the Academic Database Advisor in the Finance Department at Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Knight Hou, CEO and co-founder of Relab

Lina El-Jahel, Assistant Dean - Research, University of Auckland Business School

Edmund Lou, Lecturer, Department of Accounting and Finance

Schedule for event