Barry Wilson
London born, with a 30 year career span across 4 continents as a design and construction professional and mediator. He received award from the China International Urbanization Development Strategy Research Committee in 2012 and was awarded the Reed & Mallik Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2019. He is a Fellow of both the Hong Kong Institutes of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Architecture.
Biography
• A vastly experienced, award winning visionary in the field of development planning and design in both urban and rural contexts and public and private sectors.• Professionally qualified in both urban design and landscape architecture as well as being a published writer, climate reality leader and internationally accredited mediator.
• An advocate of formative sustainable solutions with emphasis on adaption related to technological and social inclusion.
Barry is the award winning author of Futureproof City : Ten immediate Paths to Urban Resilience. He has extensive knowledge of global design standards; construction methods and management practices, absorbed over a career living and working across four continents designing and managing large scale planning, infrastructure, architecture, landscape and environmental projects, particularly those related to landfill, land reclamation, drainage, rail and highways. His consultancy practice, Barry Wilson Project Initiatives, have been tackling urbanisation issues in Hong Kong and China over the last 20 years.
A Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects as well as the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design where he currently acts as Vice President, he has sat on various committee since 2014 including the Council, the Public Affairs Committee and the International and Mainland Affairs Committee which he founded as Chair in 2018. He is a Chartered Member of the UK Landscape Institute, a Hong Kong Registered Landscape Architect and was made an Honorary Member of the ‘China International Urbanization Development Strategy Research Committee’ in 2012 in respect of his outstanding achievements in relation to urbanisation in China. He was nominated to the HKSAR Government ‘Common Spatial Data Advisory Committee’ in 2020 and the Land Advisory Sub Committee in 2021.
As Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, Barry has taught regularly across all departments of the Faculty of Architecture for more than 10 years, including the Departments of Real Estate and Contraction Management; Urban Planning and Design; Landscape Architecture and Architecture. He has frequently undertaken roles as Guest Assistant Professor at the Peking University School of Urban Planning and Design, Lund University School of Architecture and Penn State University Department of Architectural Engineering. his research areas focus on the urban integration of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
In 2014 he received the Design for Well-being Merit Award at the WHO – Global Conference of the Alliance for Heathy Cities and in 2016 presented the TEDx talk “When Fantasy Becomes Reality” in Guangzhou. He was most recently awarded the 2019 Reed & Mallik Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper ‘An Outline to Futureproofing Cities with Ten Immediate Steps’ .
Books
Articles
Is Futureproof City actually futureproofed?
Published: Sep 30, 2021 by Routledge.com
Authors: Barry Wilson
The Futureproof City is one that creates adaptability and resilience in the face of the unknown challenges resulting from technological change, population explosion, global pandemic and environmental crisis. The author of the book – Barry D Wilson addressed a number of the questions raised for what seems a very timely publication.
Uncertainties in the Provision of Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Facilities in Hong Kong: Implications on Public and Private Realm Assets and Resources
Published: Jul 09, 2021 by Urbanie & Urbanus : HKIUD Journal
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Built Environment, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Studies
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is coming, faster in some places than others, but the change is inevitable. The potentials and implications of dealing with the resultant changes remains uncertain and largely unresearched whilst the impacts upon manufacture, supply chains, user behaviour, and the physical environment may be significant. The Hong Kong Government recently announced its own Roadmap of transition to an electrified vehicle future, what can be expected?
The X Factor - Singapore's Drive to Urban Excellence : Barry Wilson Interviews Elaine Tan
Published: Dec 01, 2019 by The Magazine of Urbanisation, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, Beijing
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Built Environment, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Studies
An interview with Elaine TAN Sze Hui, Deputy Director (Research) at the Centre for Liveable Cities, part of the Ministry of National Development, Singapore and the former Director of Architecture and Urban Design Excellence at the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is tasked with land use planning and conservation for the city.
Cities Not Fit for Ageing Populations
Published: Sep 01, 2019 by Urban Design, Tsinghua University Press
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Built Environment, Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Studies
The Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design has spent the last two years in researching and assessing the suitability of Hong Kong’s urban environment in encouraging active urban ageing and in identifying actions and interventions that could lead to significant improvements towards meeting the basic needs of an increasing elderly population.
Community The Heart of Heritage : Barry Wilson Interviews Andrea Bruciati
Published: Sep 01, 2019 by The Magazine of Urbanisation, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, Beijing
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Museum and Heritage Studies , Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Environment and Agriculture , Environment and Sustainability
In this interview I meet with Andrea Bruciati, Director of the UNESCO sites that he terms the ‘Villae’ (Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana). A true romantic, his goal is to both harness the cultural quality of the heritage sites and yet further invigorate them to become the pulsating heart of the communities who live and work there. We discuss the particular problems of protecting heritage with introducing new economies to retain vitality and opportunity.
Is the 2030+ Vision Visionary?
Published: May 01, 2019 by Urbanie & Urbanus : HKIUD Journal
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Built Environment, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Studies
Hong Kong has a land crisis that goes beyond mere availability. Not only does there seem to be a fundamental lack of consensus in the actual quantity of land availability required, there appears to be a fundamental flaw in the development decision making process. Despite the concerns continually voiced about a lack of quality objectives, solid data and visionary thinking that should inspire the population and justify key decision making, Hong Kong just cannot break away from building by numbers.
An Outline to Futureproofing Cities with Ten Immediate Steps
Published: Sep 18, 2018 by Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Urban Design and Planning
Authors: Barry D Wilson
Subjects:
Built Environment, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Studies
Technology, business and social structures are rapidly evolving to meet new challenges, yet cities are slow to respond - they take time to plan, finance and construct and by the time they are built they are already out of date. This paper identifies ten key areas where governments, planners, investors and those responsible for shaping cities, can refocus their priorities and funding in order to more effectively utilise the limited financial and natural resources available.