Professor Burke's expertise is in urban and policy studies. Within these broad areas his interests are in housing, particularly lower income housing (public and private rental housing), urban segregation, and comparative urban and social policy including ways of enhancing citizenship.

His research has included many housing studies for local government, client satisfaction and decision making surveys and needs analyses. He is currently undertaking research on what the residents of Melbourne value about their lives and what threatens them. This research is prompted by his concern that the lives of many Melbournians are being eroded by the unintended side effects of globalisation and economic change.

Professor Burke has co-authored a number of texts including Social Theory and the Australian City and Informed Decision Making. He has also written many other reports and journal articles on urban Australia. He established Australia's only housing management course which is offered in distance learning format. He has also been on many government advisory committees dealing with social and housing issues.

Prof. John Burnett graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in electrical power engineering in 1969, and a Ph.D1974. He joined Hong Kong Polytechnic as a lecturer in electrical engineering in 1974 and transferred to Building Services Engineering in 1981. He headed the department between 1990 and 2002 and is currently Chair a Professor at the University.

His research interests include building environmental performance, environmental management, and electrical services. He has been involved in a number of research and consultancy projects for both the private sector and government, including development of the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method, the Hotel Building Environmental Assessment Scheme, ISO14001 Environmental Management for Hotels, and energy audit, indoor air quality and electromagnetic compatibility in buildings.

Prof. Burnett is a Fellow of CIBSE and the IEE, and has been active in the development of the BSE discipline in Hong Kong and China over the past decade.

Dr Lawrence Chin Kein Hoong is the Deputy Head (Finance & Admin) with the Department of Real Estate at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He graduated with BSc (Estate Management) with Honours from the University of Singapore and PhD in Business Administration and Real Estate from the University of Georgia, USA. Prior to joining the NUS, he was an estate manager with the Housing and Development Board where he managed more than 25,000 flats including commercial properties in public housing estates.

His areas of teaching and research are in housing management, public policies and urban governance. He has consulted and undertaken joint research projects for the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore, Urban Redevelopment Authority and Singapore Tourism Board.

Dr Chin is currently a Town Councillor and Vice-chairman of the Finance & Tender Evaluation Committee with the Tanjong Pagar Town Council. He is also the Secretary of the Citizen Consultative Committee for the Radin Mas electorate division. Recently, he has been appointed by the SPRING Singapore to chair the Project Steering Committee on the Performance of Managing Agents for Private Sector Residential Properties which aims to establish the technical reference as a Singapore Standard, the first ever developed national standard in property and facility management.

Professor Nelson CHOW is the Chair of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong. He has served in various capacities on committees and working groups on housing and social services for elderly people in Hong Kong. He has acted as an advisor to the Population Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. He is a review editor of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy, Aging International, Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology and the Hallym International Journal on Aging. He has conducted research and presented papers on family support for the elderly and recently the practice of filial piety. He has published widely on topics related to the welfare of the elderly.

Dr. Ernest Chui
Department of Social Work & Social Administration,
The University of Hong Kong,
HKSAR

Dr Ernest Chui is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work & Social Administration and Associate Director of the Sau Po Center on Ageing of The University of Hong Kong. He is a member of the Asia Pacific Housing Research Network as well as a research fellow of the Center of Urban Planning and Environmental Management of the University of Hong Kong. He is a co-opted member of the Review Committee of the Urban Renewal Authority. His research interests lie mainly in housing policies in general and housing for elders in particular, urban renewal, and social welfare. His publications are found in academic journals like Community Development Journal, City Planning Review, Housing Theory and Society, Planning Practice and Research, Hallym International Journal of Aging, Australasian Journal on Ageing, Asian Journal of Public Administration, and the like.