Strategic Direction and Outlook: Pandemic Response, Anniversary Milestones and Greater Bay Area Ambitions (2020–2026)

Module: 00 Overview · Sub-file: Strategic Direction and Outlook (strategic-outlook-2020-2026) Building on the Recent Developments Timeline, this section collects three strands of extended material: (1) pandemic response, infrastructure expansion, international partnerships and shifts in standing across 2020–2026; (2) the 85th anniversary milestone and the planned Foshan campus; (3) four strategic thrusts distilled from PolyU's recent public strategy statements — innovation and technology hub, Greater Bay Area, interdisciplinarity and AI, and sustainability and carbon neutrality.

PolyU's strategic story is not one of "transformation" but of "payoff" — cashing in the applied DNA of that 1937 trade school for a 2020s identity as an innovation and technology hub, a Greater Bay Area node and an AI-powered institution. This thread runs through all three parts of this section.

# Part 1: Development Review and Outlook, 2020–2026

# 1. 2020–2022: PolyU During COVID-19

COVID-19 upended higher education globally, and PolyU was no exception:

• Changes to teaching modes: From January 2020 to the second half of 2022, Hong Kong's pandemic restrictions forced PolyU to launch successive rounds of remote and hybrid teaching; some courses remained online for years. The University's IT infrastructure (VPN, Zoom, Canvas LMS) was stretched to handle the surge in online learning, while hands-on studio and workshop courses — in the School of Design, the Industrial Centre and elsewhere — were interrupted before gradually resuming with in-person small-group practical sessions.
• Research and pandemic response: Several PolyU medical and health teams joined the fight against COVID-19, working on infection control, viral tracing, airborne transmission research, and the use of traditional Chinese medicine as adjunctive treatment. Findings from the School of Nursing and other health research teams were cited in public-health policy discussions.
• International mobility: disruption and recovery: Between 2020 and 2021, virtually all outbound exchange programmes were suspended; from 2022 to 2023 they gradually resumed. In 2024, over 2,079 undergraduate students took part in outbound learning experiences of various kinds, with funding totalling HK$20.65 million^※, marking a full recovery that surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

# 2. Infrastructure and Campus Expansion

According to PolyU library records, in 2022 the Pao Yue-kong Library completed a sixth-floor expansion, adding a skylit atrium, an outdoor viewing terrace, flexible furniture systems and a Maker Space — a new study environment that quickly became a student favourite (see ../12-misc/library-and-museums.md). On the residential side, PolyU has steadily expanded bed capacity: existing halls include the former Hunghom Bay site and the Ho Man Tin student residences; with the extension of the Tuen Ma Line (the Ho Man Tin station opened in 2021), the hall network has been further integrated. The Northern Metropolis university town plan envisages large-scale new accommodation aligned with the broader expansion blueprint. In May 2025, PolyU unveiled the PolyU Qianhai Frontier Technology Innovation Centre and the Technology and Innovation Policy Research Centre (Pilot Zone)^※, deepening Shenzhen–Hong Kong research collaboration.

# 3. Key Partnerships of the 2020s

Industry: collaboration with the Airport Authority Hong Kong on smart maintenance, structural monitoring and green airport research; with the Hospital Authority on clinical AI, rehabilitation technology and nursing research; with the Hong Kong Construction Industry Council on smart construction, BIM and sustainable buildings; with HOYA (Japan)/DIMS on commercialising MiyoSmart® myopia-control spectacle lenses; with Li-Ning and other brands on textile and fashion industry ties; and with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)/China National Space Administration on instrumentation for Chang'e-5/6 and Tianwen-1.

Academia: a longitudinal deep-omics research centre established jointly with Stanford University School of Medicine in April 2025; the University Alliance of the Silk Road (150 universities across 37 countries), chaired by PolyU in 2023 with its summit held in Hong Kong in 2024; collaborations with Germany's Fraunhofer Society in manufacturing and materials (as reported by the media); a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centre hosted by the School of Optometry; and an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) collaborating centre hosted by the School of Nursing.

# 4. Outlook: Strategic Directions for 2027–2030

Based on PolyU's official statements and verifiable sources, the following are its publicly announced near- to medium-term strategic directions (no predictions here — only statements of official positions): (1) Deepening AI and data science — the twin engines of FCMS and PAAI, aiming for top global rankings in AI-related disciplines; (2) Positioning as a Greater Bay Area research hub — the Qianhai innovation centre plus continued expansion of multiple Mainland MTRI nodes; (3) A Northern Metropolis campus — new space for medicine and health teaching and research, subject to the government's new university town plan; (4) The 90th anniversary (2027) — counting from the Government Trade School of 1937, PolyU turns 90 in 2027, and significant strategic announcements may accompany the occasion (nothing confirmed); (5) Internationalising the School of Fashion and Textile (SFT) — since its establishment as an independent school in 2022, it has steadily strengthened ties with the global fashion industry.

Disclaimer: This subsection states directions based on public announcements; it is not our forecast. All future matters are subject to official announcements at the time.

# 5. PolyU's Shifting Position in Hong Kong Higher Education, 2020–2026

Methodological note: The "around 2020" column is presented as estimates/indicative statements (showing the order of magnitude of a trend, not year-by-year official verification); every item in the "2025/2026" column carries an official source. The 23.2% non-local figure is the UGC's 2023/24 aggregate across all levels (18.1% at undergraduate level, but as high as 86.0% for RPg students) — it is not "approaching the cap": the cap refers to the proportion of non-local places outside UGC-funded local places, a different metric.

The underlying drivers of this shift: global ranking systems reward both the quantity and quality of research output; the Hong Kong SAR Government has pushed innovation and technology policy; and PolyU's leadership has pursued active strategic positioning. As of the data cutoff (June 2026), the following remain unresolved: the final timetable for the Northern Metropolis university town; the eventual scope of FCMS's disciplinary expansion; PolyU's long-term positioning in health sciences without a medical school; and the indirect impact of the third medical school (at HKUST) on PolyU's health-discipline admissions and research.

# 6. Summary Timeline of Major Events, 2020–2026

# 7. PolyU's Contribution to Hong Kong Society, 2020–2026

Over these six years, PolyU's societal contribution can be summarised along several dimensions: knowledge production — publication output consistently among the top of Hong Kong institutions, spanning engineering, health, management and sustainability; talent cultivation — thousands of engineering and professional graduates each year for Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area; industry engagement — translating research into commercialisable technologies through the PolyVentures network and MTRI infrastructure; international representation — carrying Hong Kong's flag on the world stage through academic alliances, space missions, and myopia-control optometry; community connection — the Hotel ICON teaching hotel, public exhibitions from the School of Design, and sports facilities open to the community make PolyU an organic part of Hung Hom and of Hong Kong more broadly.

# Part 2: The 85th Anniversary Milestone and the Foshan Campus

PolyU dates its institutional history from 1937, marking its 80th anniversary in 2017 and its 85th in 2022. According to the official PolyU 85th anniversary page^※ and media coverage, PolyU progressed "from the Government Trade School of the late 1930s, through the Government Technical Institute of the late 1940s and the Hong Kong Polytechnic of the 1970s, to university status in 1994" (see history.md), evolving into one of the world's top 100 universities. Dating the institutional founding to 1937 and counting anniversaries from that year reflects PolyU's self-conception as "the founder of Hong Kong's industrial and technical education" (see founding-and-early-campus.md and symbols.md).

According to PolyU's own publications^※, the University marked 2022 with a year-long programme of 85th anniversary celebrations under the theme "We Are PolyU · Together We Excel" — the idea that the University's achievements rest on a community "united as one, weathering storms together". Signature activities and outputs included: the publication of a history of the University; the opening of the University History Museum charting PolyU's development from 1937 to the present; the elevation of the south gate of Core A on the Hung Hom campus to become the University's main entrance — tidying the campus thoroughfare while giving it a more clearly defined "front door"; an Innovation and Technology Day; interviews with successive Council chairmen and Vice-Chancellors; and grand dinners, concerts and other large-scale events.

Looking ahead, the anniversary also points toward territorial expansion. According to media reports, PolyU is planning a new campus in Foshan, Guangdong — extending its reach into the heart of the Greater Bay Area. The Foshan campus plan is consistent with PolyU's overall GBA strategy (see 09 Internationalisation · Greater Bay Area): keeping Hong Kong as the base while extending teaching and research nodes across the bay area (ultra-precision machining laboratories are already in place in Shenzhen and Wenzhou — see 04 Research · State Key Laboratories). If the Foshan campus comes to fruition, it will be the weightiest step yet in PolyU's GBA footprint.

Anniversaries and milestones are the "temporal markers" of PolyU's identity narrative: the 1937 origin cements its identity as the founder of industrial and technical education; its four name changes embody continuity beneath changing titles — an unchanged motto; the 85th (2022) was a node for looking back at history and forward to innovation; and the Foshan campus represents the move from a single Hung Hom campus to a multi-node GBA presence. In short: PolyU's anniversaries compress its history and ambition — "from trade school to world top 100, from a corner of Hung Hom to the Greater Bay Area" — into milestones that can be remembered.

# Part 3: Four Strategic Thrusts

Synthesising PolyU's recent public strategic statements and its actual moves, its developmental thrusts can be summarised under four heads: (1) helping Hong Kong become an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub; (2) deepening its Greater Bay Area footprint (Shenzhen, Wenzhou, and Foshan in planning); (3) strengthening interdisciplinary research and artificial intelligence (PAIR, FCMS, GUR-AIDA); (4) advancing sustainability and carbon neutrality (2045 campus carbon neutrality). These four thrusts redirect PolyU's "applied, professional" tradition toward a future of "innovation + region + AI + sustainability".

Thrust one: contributing to Hong Kong's I&T hub status. PolyU ties its own development closely to Hong Kong's goal of becoming an international I&T hub — as early as the 85th anniversary (2022) it pledged to help Hong Kong achieve this. Concrete vehicles include: the InnoHK research centres (world-class R&D platforms with leading global universities — see 04 Research · InnoHK); knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship (InnoHub) (commercialising research outputs); and the PAIR interdisciplinary research institutes (focusing on frontier topics — see 04 Research · PAIR). PolyU's strength in applied research and industrial translation is precisely what Hong Kong's I&T hub project needs — a "same frequency" between the University's strategy and the city's.

Thrust two: deepening the Greater Bay Area footprint. PolyU has established a "Hong Kong base + GBA nodes" configuration: Hung Hom as the base; an ultra-precision machining laboratory branch and research node in Shenzhen; an ultra-precision manufacturing research centre in Wenzhou (see 04 Research · State Key Laboratories); and a planned new campus in Foshan. The logic of the GBA configuration is "Hong Kong R&D/incubation + GBA manufacturing/market" (see 09 Internationalisation · Greater Bay Area).

Thrust three: interdisciplinarity and artificial intelligence. Several recent moves point in this direction: PAIR (2022) reorganised research strength by theme; the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (FCMS) integrated computing, data and AI into a single faculty (see 01 Academics · Faculty of Science and FCMS); the University-wide AI literacy requirement (GUR-AIDA) ensures every undergraduate acquires AI literacy (see 01 Academics · GUR); and AI × Design (AiDLab) and AI × Humanities (the Generative AI master's programme) cross AI with individual disciplines. Clearly, AI at PolyU is not the business of any one faculty; it is a University-wide strategy — penetrating from research platforms to faculty structure to general education.

Thrust four: sustainability and carbon neutrality. PolyU has committed to campus carbon neutrality by 2045, with staged targets in 2028/2033/2045, and treats the campus itself as a decarbonisation research testbed (see 05 Campus · Carbon Neutrality). Sustainability is not just about campus operations — it is also a research direction: perovskite solar cells (see 04 Research · Materials and Textile Breakthroughs), PAIR's Carbon Neutrality Resources Engineering Centre, and the third InnoHK cluster (sustainability/energy/space) all make sustainability a priority, in step with global and Hong Kong sustainability agendas.

These four thrusts look disparate but are internally consistent — each is built on PolyU's tradition of being "applied, professional and industry- and society-oriented": the I&T hub is the contemporary upgrade of applied research and industrial translation; the Greater Bay Area is the regional extension of "meeting industry's manpower needs"; interdisciplinarity and AI are the era's response to applied disciplines; and sustainability is the enduring project of applied research serving society.