Introduction

The International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC) was established in September 2009 with an initiative of the Yokohama City University (YCU). It was originated from a meeting session entitled “Cities and Universities – Towards Collaboration for Sustainable Cities” during the conference of CITYNET, Yokohama on September 9, 2009, in which YCU served as a coordinator.


The IACSC aims to develop cooperation, to foster dialogues and discussions, to encourage sharing of information and resources and to promote research and collaborative activities among academic and research institutions as well as to strengthen relationship among universities and cities to contribute to a sustainable society.


There are three main units (environment unit, urban planning unit and public health unit) within the IACSC to achieve its goal.



International symposium sites and themes

No. Year Venue Hosting University Theme Report
1 2010 Japan: Yokohama Yokohama City University Exploring Sustainable Cities: A New Role of Universities Report
2 2011 Malaysia: Penang Universiti Sains Malaysia Towards a Sustainable Future: A Collaboration of Higher Education Institutions and Local Society Report
3 2012 Thailand: Bangkok Thammasat University Re-imagining Sustainable Cities Report
4 2013 The Philippines: Quezon/Manila University of the Philippines Transforming Cities into Sustainable and Resilient Communities Report
5 2014 Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh Vietnam National University Opportunities and Challenges for Urban Sustainable Development Report
6 2015 Japan: Yokohama Yokohama City University Global Partnership and Local Initiatives for Sustainable Cities Report
7 2016 Malaysia: Penang Universiti Sains Malaysia Prosperous Urban Living Report
8 2017 Thailand: Bangkok Thammasat University Well-being of Sustainable Living in Aging Population Era Report
9 2018 The Philippines University of the Philippines Equity and Health in Urban Environments in the Era of Sustainable Development Report
10 2019 Indonesia: Makassar Hasanuddin University Creating Resilient Cities with Diverse Urban Resources Report
11 2020 Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh and online Vietnam National University Cities for People: From Theory to Practice Report
12 2021 Japan: Yokohama and online Yokohama City University Co-creating Solutions to Urban Challenges beyond the Pandemic: Reimagining the role of higher education and IACSC Report
13 2022 Malaysia: Penang and online Universiti Sains Malaysia Sustainable Urban Living in a Covid-19 and Climate Change Environment Report
14 2023 Thailand: Bangkok Thammasat University Peri Urbanization - From Bangkok Metropolitan to Region Report