Professor Lindner, Dean of the Bartlett School of Building, Environment and Planning at University College London, Delivers Academic Lecture at Our College
On the afternoon of 17 May, at the invitation of Academician Gong Qihuang, President of Peking University, and the Peking University School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Professor Christoph Lindner, Dean of the Bartlett School of Building, Environment and Planning at University College London, Professor of Urban Studies, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts, delivered a keynote lecture entitled ‘Climate Urbanism and Future Design Studies’ to faculty and students. The lecture was chaired by Professor Yu Kongjian, Dean of Peking University's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
At the outset, Professor Yu extended a warm welcome to Professor Lindner, introducing his distinguished contributions across architecture, geography, media studies, visual culture, urban planning and design. He highlighted Professor Lindner's enduring passion for exploring the interrelationships between cities, sustainability and socio-spatial inequalities.
Yu Kongjian presiding over the lecture
Lindner expressed his excitement at the opportunity to discuss the future of cities with scholars and students from diverse disciplines at Peking University. His presentation centred on three key themes: extreme urban challenges, climate urbanism, and future design studies.
Lecture venue
The first part addressed extreme urban challenges: wildfires, droughts, floods, urban waste, and water security issues that impact both present and future human existence. Lindner highlighted that rapid urbanisation accelerates climate change, exacerbating socio-spatial inequalities—such as extreme aridity in some regions while others face inundation. He thus stressed that alongside climate change itself, the inequalities it engenders demand equal attention.
From this inequality, Lindner introduced the concept of climate urbanism – our thoughts and actions under climate change. This concept is vital because current climate issues are often overlooked; for instance, during Oregon's wildfires, people continued playing golf on their lawns without concern. Lindner stressed that without intervention, extreme urban challenges will proliferate in the future. The correct intervention, he argues, lies in cultivating resilience—enabling cities to sustain themselves and thrive amidst uncertainty and risk.
Finally, Lindner shared his vision for the future of design. He contends that climate change intensifies distorted urban competition, with cities vying for resources. Yet, in confronting climate change, humanity must instead embrace sharing and unity. This led Lindner to the concept of climate justice – addressing the socio-spatial inequalities arising from climate change. When considering climate change through the lens of land design, the key role of disciplines such as landscape architecture, architecture, and urban planning lies in achieving greater climate justice, yet this is often overlooked in design practice. Given design's capacity to unite professionals across different fields in tackling challenges, greater investment should be directed towards design education to advance climate justice.
Lindner emphasised that while science advances, imagination regresses—yet imagination remains indispensable for envisioning future scenarios and responses to climate change impacts. He contends that the current collective goal of carbon reduction is not the endpoint. We must instead contemplate: What should the post-carbon era look like? How should we work? What do we require? How can disciplines design for this future?
During the discussion session, numerous students and faculty members shared perspectives and engaged in dialogue with Lindner. One student posed the question: "What bridges unite landscape architecture with other disciplines? How can we unite to create a sustainable future?" Lindner acknowledged this question resonates with his own reflections. The challenges of the post-carbon era demand collective engagement in design education, presenting immense opportunities for collaboration with experts across diverse fields. He then illustrated his response using his experience at University College London, highlighting how design students engage with knowledge from multiple disciplines to facilitate collaboration and dialogue with fields such as politics, technology, architecture, and environmental science. This interdisciplinary approach, he argued, constitutes the very bridge we seek.
Following the dialogue, Yu Kongjian and Lindner exchanged gifts on behalf of their respective institutions. Yu Kongjian then guided Lindner on a tour of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. As a key event within Peking University's International Strategy Year, Lindner's visit deepened mutual understanding between Peking University and University College London, opening prospects for future collaboration in architecture and landscape design.
Yu Kongjian presented Professor Lindner with his publication Design Ecology
Professor Lindner presented gifts to Peking University's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Group photograph of attendees
Professor Lindner touring the School
Text by Li Xiaoshan
Photography by Ma Zhe
Edited by Zhu Liangliang and Zhang Qinwen
