The Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects (HKILA) will host the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World and Asia-Pacific Region Congress from October 28-30. The event will bring together landscape architects, planners, and policymakers from over 80 countries. This is the first time Hong Kong has hosted the IFLA World Congress. The theme of the Congress is "Liminal Landscapes: Shifting Boundaries of Watersheds & Coastlines."
The Congress will examine how cities can plan and design for coastlines and river systems that are constantly changing due to climate change. The three-day event will feature keynote lectures, scientific panels, workshops, and awards ceremonies. Hong Kong's experience as a city built at the edge of land and sea will guide the conversation. The Congress aims to provide delegates with practical tools and partnerships to take back to their own cities.
Mr. Paul Chan, IFLA Asia-Pacific Region President and Immediate Past President of HKILA, said the Congress marks a turning point for the profession in the region. He emphasized that landscape architects have argued for proper design attention to the space between land and water, not just engineering. The Congress will put this argument on a world stage, in a city that lives with the consequences of that boundary every day.
The theme reflects a challenge every coastal city in Asia now faces. Hong Kong sits at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, a position described as fundamentally liminal. The Congress will explore how landscape architects can work with, rather than against, these shifting boundaries. Key topics will include watershed management, coastal resilience, sponge cities, nature-based solutions, and cultural landscapes.
The Congress will feature over a dozen international speakers, including Kate Orff, founder of SCAPE and professor at Columbia University. Orff has spent her career redesigning coastlines in New York and New Orleans to absorb storms rather than fight them. Other notable speakers include Stig L. Andersson, founder of the Danish studio SLA, and Jungyoon Kim, associate professor in practice at Harvard's Graduate School of Design.
The Congress offers value beyond the profession itself, according to Mr. Chan. Anyone with a stake in how Hong Kong and the wider region grow will find something. Delegates will hear from people who have already solved problems that cities are only beginning to face, from flood resilience to biodiversity loss. Landscape architecture touches property values, public health, and investment decisions, as much as it touches parks and gardens.
The Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects was founded in 1988 and is a professional body incorporated under the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects Ordinance. The International Federation of Landscape Architects was founded in 1948 and represents the global community of landscape architects through national associations from over 80 countries. The Congress will set a global agenda on climate adaptive design.
Key points
- The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World and Asia-Pacific Region Congress will take place in Hong Kong from October 28-30.
- The Congress will bring together landscape architects, planners, and policymakers from over 80 countries to discuss climate adaptive design.
- The event aims to provide delegates with practical tools and partnerships to take back to their own cities.
