Designing Liveable Cities: A Collaborative Approach

Dr. Sujata S. Govada is an award-winning, qualified urban designer, certified urban planner and registered architect in India with over 35 years of experience having worked on a diverse range of projects in Hong Kong, US, Philippines, India and the region. She is the CEO and Managing Director of UDP International, an award winning global boutique practice based in Hong Kong since 1994, with representative offices in San Francisco, and Hyderabad, India. UDP International has won 16 major planning and design awards including Central Harbourfront Master Plan, Graham Street Urban Regeneration Alternate Proposal, Harbourfront Connectivity Study in Hong Kong, the Clark Green City Master Plan in the Philippines, Naya Dharavi Master Plan and IT Master Plan in India. UDP International is Innovative by Design leveraging award- winning smart and sustainable design and planning with a collaborative place-making approach with a focus on People, Place and Planet. Some of her recent and current projects include Kai Tak Sports Park and Smart Cultural Precinct @ Central in Hong Kong; large waterfront master planning projects in the Philippines and Balanced land use plan for a Marina District in the US; and the ADB Metro Rail TOD Project in Bengaluru and Urban Design and Architectural Guidelines for Amaravati in India.

Dr. Govada is the Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Urbanisation (ISU) which she set up in 2014 in Hong Kong. She has undertaken Smart City Research leading to the Hong Kong sections in Springer publications “Smart City Smart Economy” (2016), “E- Democracy” (2017), “Smart Metropolitan Region” (2018), “Smart Environment for Smart Cities” (2019), “Smart Living for Smart Cities (2020) and Smart Mega Cities” (2021) edited by Prof. T.M.V Kumar. ISU has also undertaken local initiatives such as the Smart Cultural Precinct (SCP) engaging the local community with a vision to develop a walkable Cultural Precinct in Central, Hong Kong. Over the last two years Dr. Govada has been involved with Ar. Sergeijs and his team in the Rebuilding Cities Workshop and was instrumental in making it an international workshop getting universities in Hong Kong, India and the US to participate as well. She has gained a reputation as a thought leader in shaping smart, sustainable, resilient, liveable and walkable communities and cities around the world.

In 2025, Dr. Govada was teaching as Part-time Lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Urban Design & Regional Planning Program of City University of Hong Kong. Prior to this, as an Adjunct Associate Professor, at the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr. Govada taught courses and studios as part of the master’s program in Urban Design that she also helped to start. She also was Assistant Professor at Urban Planning at the Department of Urban Planning and Design, the Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, teaching part time in the master’s programs in Urban Design and Planning. She was also a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and was an Exco Member as well as the 2015 President of the Hong Kong Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Hong Kong). She was also the Founding Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design (HKIUD), which she was primarily responsible in setting up. Dr. Govada was also a former representative of the Harbourfront Commission in Hong Kong instrumental in the enhancing the Hong Kong harboufront. Dr. Govada was also an advisor for World Bank on their Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Study focused on design, planning, development, implementation and scaling up of TOD based developments around the world.

Dandan (Queenie) Huang is a qualified urban designer (HKIUD), specialized in Landscape Design, Urban Design, Architecture, and related spatial design. She holds double Master’s Degrees and double Bachelor’s Degrees in Design, including MSc in Urban Design from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, MSc in Art Design from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China, Bachelor in Architecture, and in Artistic Design from HUST, China. Queenie is a Sr. Landscape and Urban Design Designer at UDP International. As part of UDP International team she was the lead designer for the award winning competition entries including HKHS Prosperous Garden – International Play Space Design (2020) in Hong Kong and the Streets for People Competition (2021) in India.

Queenie has 10 years professional experience working on a diverse range of projects within varied context and scales. She provided inputs in master planning, landscape design & urban design, interior & exhibition design, and project coordination & management. She has contributed to multiple projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the region. Previous design and planning projects include Urban Design and Architectural Guidelines for Amaravati in India; large waterfront master planning projects for tourism, hospitality, mixed-used new town developments in Philippines; Hangzhou Qiantang Smart City Urban Design project for the Government in Mainland China; and planning projects in Hong Kong as well.

Queenie is an active member of the Institute for Sustainable Urbanisation (ISU). She is experienced in organising workshops to engage the local community. As the coordinator, she has been involved in Smart Cultural Precinct@Central (SCP); HKDC BODW CityProg – SCP Playroom@Central; “WELL • BEING Estate Festival” – Playroom@Estates; Facade Artwork Workshop for Expansion of Hong Kong Science Museum; and other ongoing community projects in Hong Kong.

Roger Wu is currently a Director in the Hong Kong Design Centre. As an architect qualified in the UK, Roger has worked on international projects located in China, Algeria, Italy, Russia, Turkey, UK, USA, Hong Kong and other cities in China. As Executive Director of Haw Par Music Foundation between 2014 and 2022, Roger oversaw the revitalisation, management, programming and operations of Haw Par Music – a centre for cross-culture exchange through music, heritage and the arts based in former Haw Par Mansion in Tai Hang, Hong Kong. In recent years, Roger has also curated art and design related exhibitions and biennales in London, New York, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Macau and various cities in China. Roger teaches in Hong Kong University’s MSc in Conservation, HKU Space’s (in collaboration with Central Saint Martin’s, London) MA in Art and Cultural Enterprise and City University of Hong Kong MSc in Urban Design. Roger also Co-founded Lion Rock Heritage Foundation, a non-profit focusing on the revitalisation of heritage buildings in Hong Kong for the benefit of neighbourhood communities.