I am an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University, as well as the former director of a Taiwan-based NGO called the Organization of Urban Re-s. I enjoy working with students and community organizers, but sometime also suffer from my approach, as it is always a process of negotiating, building up consensus and putting into actions; more than often, we do not know how much room we will be able to create along the way from just a social cleavage in the beginning.

The politics in Taiwan gives university professors some freedom to connect to and change social realities. I am a planning researcher, and I do not see my research and teaching as disparate from practice. Planning is an applied science and deeply connected to social science and humanities, especially asthe graduate institute I’m affiliated with has been emphasizing on ‘planning with people’ since it is founded. In the consortium, I hope to contribute my knowledge in urbanism and community mobilization. And I will utilize the feedback from participants to reflect on and improve my own work.