Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Landscape of the main campus in Hung Hom

PolyU's main campus, in Yau Tsim Mong District, was designed by a team led by James Kinoshita from P&T Group in 1972.[9][10] It has over 20 buildings with red-brick walls, many of which are inter-connected and raised one floor above the podium, creating sheltered open-air spaces for multi-purposes such as logistics and parking.[11] Apart from buildings named after donors, the rotundas which connects the buildings are identified in English letters (from cores and blocks A to Z, without K, O and I). It is one of the largest and densest educational campus in the world.[12]

Hung Hom campus, viewed from the west

Block Z is the eighth phase of the campus expansion project. It is situated across the northwestern side of the main campus, separated by Chatham Road. It can be accessed through a pedestrian tunnel or a 80-meter-long footbridge, which was proposed in 2016 and built in 2019.[13]

In addition to classrooms, laboratories and other academic facilities, the university provides a multi-purpose auditorium, recreational and catering facilities, medical facilities, as well as a bookstore and banks. The Jockey Club Auditorium began operation in 2000. Its balcony and main floor seating accommodate up to 1,084 persons.

There are multiple sports facilities, including two swimming pools (Block X and Michael Clinton Swimming Pool), 2 indoor sports grounds (Shaw Sports Complex and Kwong On Jubilee Sports Centre), an outdoor sports ground (Keith Legg Sports Field) with basketball and soccer fields and jogging track, 2 outdoor tennis courts, and a joint-sports centre.

Pao Yue-Kong Library

The library was established on 1 August 1972.[14] Two centres operated until 1976 at Hung Hom and Quarry Bay, merging into the present building in 1976. It was named after shipping entrepreneur and philanthropist Yue-Kong Pao in 1995.

In 2014, there were over 2.77 million of library holdings in total, with nearly 600,000 electronic resources. The six-storey library provides 3,900 study spaces and is equipped with a 24-hour study centre and audio-visual information areas.

The Innovation Tower is located at the northwestern side of the university campus. This 15-story building provides 15,000 square metres of net floor area. It houses facilities for the School of Design, including exhibition areas, multi-functional classrooms and lecture theatres, design studios and workshops, as well as a communal lounge. The tower was designed by Zaha Hadid.

Hotel Icon was officially opened in September 2011. The hotel is wholly owned by the university as a teaching and research hotel of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management.

Established in 2001 under the auspices of PolyU, the Hong Kong Community College (HKCC) is a self-financed post-secondary institution which offers associate degree and higher diploma programmes spanning the domains of arts, science, social sciences, business, health care and design for senior secondary school leavers. HKCC classes are conducted at the Hung Hom Bay and West Kowloon campuses.[15]

The University's teaching units are grouped under 8 faculties and schools, offering over 220 postgraduate, undergraduate and sub-degree programmes. The service learning subjects are offered by 20 departments from 8 faculties and schools, covering a variety of community service projects.[16]

In order to promote and encourage specialized research, various research centres have been set up at PolyU.[17] Each faculty or school has its own centres, and institutes for public policy research and sustainable urban development operate under the Areas of Excellence Committee. With Boeing, PolyU established the Aviation Services Research Centre.[18] It also hosts The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel.[19]

Notable PolyU research projects include:[20]

• Safety monitoring of high speed rail
• Defocus Incorporated Soft (Contact) (DISC) Lens
• Eco-blocks (a construction material made from recycled glass and demolition waste)
• Electric vehicles
• Electronic “bat ears” for the visually impaired
• "Hand of Hope" technology (potentially useful in rehabilitation following stroke)
• Life-cycle health monitoring of massive infrastructure
• Micro-injection moulding machine
• Nano-particles for purifying dirty water
• Nu-Torque singles yarn technology
• Organic photovoltaics and LEDs
• Tools and instruments used in space exploration

World Rankings of PolyU

• QS "Top 50 Under 50" list of world's top young universities (2020/21): 7th in the world, 3rd in Hong Kong[26]
• QS Asian University Rankings 2020: 25th in Asia, 5th in Hong Kong
• QS World University Rankings 2021: 75th in the world, 5th in Hong Kong
• Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2017: 192nd in the world
• Times Higher Education's 150 Under 50 World University Rankings 2016: 27th in the world
• Times Higher Education's Asia University Rankings 2017: 17th in the Asia, 5th in Hong Kong

World Rankings of Faculties, Schools and Disciplines

There are two student halls of residence buildings provided by the university, in Hung Hom Bay and Ho Man Tin. The residential halls include:

• Hung Hom Bay – Research Postgraduate: Boyan Hall (19,20/F). Undergraduates: Kaiyuan Hall (17,18/F), Wuhua Hall (15,16/F), Chengde Hall (13,14/F), Wuxian Hall (11,12/F), Lizhi Hall (9,10/F), Lisheng Hall (5,6/F), Minyin Hall (3,4/F). Female residents: Xuemin Hall (7,8/F).
• Ho Man Tin – Co-ed halls for both all students: 3-7/F (Purple), 5-9/F (Blue), 10-14/F (Green), 12-16/F (Yellow), 17-21/F (Orange), 19-23/F (Red), 24-25/F is warden's floor.

The university also provides three off-campus housing sites, located in Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, and Tsim She Tsui. It offers around 250 residential places at urban areas, as an accommodation option for non-local students.

Block VA, the building for the PolyU Students’ Union.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Students’ Union (HKPUSU) is a student-run organization that is autonomous from the University administration for promoting the interests and welfare of full-time undergraduates (excluding postgraduate and College of Professional and Continuing Education students).

The university's faculty-led Student Discipline Committee, with the support of the university council chairman Lam Tai-fai,[29] expelled one student and suspended another for one year in response to an October 2018 incident arising from a dispute over postings by students on the "Democracy Wall" bulletin board then managed by the students' union. The students had posted messages in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the "Umbrella Movement" democracy occupation protests of 2014 and calling for Hong Kong independence from the CCP-ruled People's Republic of China. Another two students were ordered to serve terms of community service. The students had been ordered by management to take them down.[30]

The evidence called at the disciplinary committee hearing, at which the students were denied legal representation, included video footage in which the students were observed shouting and knocking on doors. It was alleged that they had made defamatory comments, assaulted a staff member and damaged property, all of which accusations were denied by the students. The university described their behaviour as "unruly". Among them were a former student union leader, an elected member of the school’s governing council and a former external vice-president of the student union. No avenue for appeal from a decision of the committee is available.[31]

Numerous pro-democracy groups, including more than a dozen legislators and 19 student organisations, protested the decision of the committee. The 90,000-strong Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union described the punishments as excessive.[32]

In November 2019, the university was occupied by protesters as part of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, confrontation with the Hong Kong Police Force occurred from 17 November to 19 November. On November 16th, police attempted to enter the campus, but failed as protestors used road blocks and petrol bombs to attack them.[33][34][35][36] The police then blocked all exits of the university campus and requested all protesters inside to surrender. On November 18, the police attempted to enter the campus again using tear gas, rubber bullets, bean bags, and sponge grenades.[37] Protestors responded by throwing petrol bombs at police.[38] The university has been described as being a battleground during the conflict.[39] The university was later sealed off by police, only several protesters managed to escape.[40] This resulted to a 3-days long stand off. More than 280 protesters were injured while more than 1,000 persons were arrested.[41]