"Guangzhou Metropolitan Panel Survey" was officially launched
On July 17, 2023, the "Guangzhou Metropolitan Panel Survey" (GPS) was officially launched at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) in China. The GPS project, conducted by Urban Governance and Design Thrust of the Society Hub at HKUST(GZ), aims to systematically collect representative data on urban dwellers’ socio-economic profiles and well-being using scientific designs. This will facilitate rigorous, multilevel, and cross-disciplinary urban studies with social impact and policy implications. Prof. Ge Lin KAN, Head of UGOD, chaired the launch ceremony. Prof. Shaobing QU, the party secretary of HKUST (GZ), Prof. Pinglun LIU, the deputy party secretary, the GPS team members, and the student interviewers attended the launch ceremony.
At the launch ceremony, Prof. Shaobing QU, delivered a speech on behalf of Prof. Lionel Ni, President of HKUST(GZ). Prof. QU emphasized the importance of urban surveys for understanding urban communities and promoting social equity. He expressed his expectation that GPS would be a successful panel study, providing evidence-based innovative policy implications for urban governance in Guangzhou and serving as a valuable platform for education and training for future generations.
Dr. Zhuoni ZHANG, the Principal Investigator of the project and associate professor of UGOD at HKUST(GZ), introduced the project's overall design and research significance. She highlighted that Guangzhou, as a first-tier city in China and the core engine of the Greater Bay Area, has always been a pioneer in urban development and governance. GPS is a timely project with great significance in both academia and practice. The project not only focuses on the well-being of Guangzhou residents but also contributes to high-quality development in China. It addresses the socio-economic development and social equity of China's mega-cities in the post-epidemic era and the governance and welfare of cities in the digital age.
Dr. Muzhi ZHOU, the Co-Principal Investigator of the project and assistant professor of UGOD at HKUST(GZ), further introduced the project implementations and the survey team. The survey collects data at the community, household, and individual levels. To ensure the quality of data collection, the GPS project uses a computer-assisted personal interview system, which not only makes the interview process more efficient but also protects the privacy of respondents.
Mr. Yizhou YE, the project’s coordinator and PhD candidate at UGOD, expressed the team's determination to provide high-quality academic references for promoting innovative and effective urban governance and the well beings of the urban communities. He emphasized that GPS, as a large-scale household panel survey representative of the city, will become an important platform for scientific research on social governance and urban development in Guangzhou. The project aims to combine micro-level survey data with macro-level administrative or spatial data to produce a cross-disciplinary socio-spatial database for comparative urban studies.
The GPS team mainly consists of HKUST(GZ) faculty and students, with student trainees coming from other universities across the country. The academic team of the project includes Dr. Zhuoni ZHANG, Dr. Muzhi ZHOU, Prof. Xiaogang WU, Dr. Chaosu LI, and Dr. Wanru XIONG. The field survey team is comprised of 30 group leaders and 133 student interviewers (expected to reach 200 in mid-August). Prof. Xiaogang WU, the Co-Principal Investigator of the project, along with his team at the Center for Applied Social and Economic Research (CASER) at NYU Shanghai, provides valuable intellectual and technical support for research design and the CAPI system. GPS is a research collaboration of the HKUST (GZ)-NYU Shanghai Joint Urban Survey and Intervention Lab (JUST Lab).
Over the past months, the GPS team has intensively worked on sampling, questionnaire design, CAPI system, interviewer recruitment and training, and survey implementations. The fieldwork began on July 25.
Urban Governance and Design Thrust (UGOD) aims to train the next generation of leaders in conducting cutting-edging innovative research on cities through cross-disciplinary approaches to solve complex urban problems.