Francesca Chiu

Research & teach @CityUHongKong. PhD @KU_IFRO and @developmentuea &. Urban planning, property, citizenship, and social movements.

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

I’m happy to share my book—At the Feet of a War Elephant: Land, Displacement, and Urbanization in Myanmar—is forthcoming with @CornellPress in Mar 2027. It explores the slow violence of urban growth under capitalism & how dispossession is normalized even without formal planning.

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

You can check out my new study on speculative governance in #Myanmar for free right now at Third World Quarterly: https://t.co/EZ8zSrzIG3 4/4

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

On #Myanmar’s urban outskirts, ward administrators often told me they had one job—‘Don’t cause trouble.’ They certainly weren’t talking about following the law, though. They meant: don’t attract attention, trigger inspections, or make the ward visible to higher authorities. 1/4

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

My new article argues this constitutes 'speculative governance': a mode of rule in which uncertain futures are used to govern land & people. The ‘don’t cause trouble’ motto reflects a politics of invisibility through which speculation, authority & displacement are sustained. 3/4

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

Urgent help needed: how do I turn off the #Copilot feature in MS 365? After restarting my Mac yesterday, the Copilot icon now shows up in Word (bottom right + Home panel). I don’t want it and can’t find any setting to disable it.

[IJURR.org @IJURResearch]

Small-scale land speculation on Mandalay’s outskirts reveals how everyday actors—not just developers—reshape peri-urban space and contribute to displacement in the global South.

By Francesca Chiu

📖 https://t.co/wiZgQNMeRW

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

My article on land speculation in #Myanmar is featured in the latest @IJURResearch. I show how even without developer mega-projects or evictions, small-scale speculation in Mandalay still leads to urban displacement and inequality. Open access: https://t.co/9xBb1pE7UD

[IJURR.org @IJURResearch]

📢 Explore the new November issue — now available online!

👉 https://t.co/HSkwmGVaIQ

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

#Decolonizing academia has to start at home. “Attracting global talent” sounds progressive, but if local scholars are overlooked we risk reinforcing the same hierarchies we’re trying to move beyond. Real progress entails valuing regional expertise, not just importing prestige 6/6

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

It’s no secret the academic job market has become increasingly precarious. Many early-career researchers are struggling to find stable positions, and this challenge is global. In #Asia, things have recently become more complex due to defunding of Western #universities. 1/6

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

This emerging dynamic raises broader questions: why aren’t Asian universities more confident in recognizing and supporting the talent nurtured within their own ranks? How can Asian higher education come into its own if we’re all scrambling to hire from the Ivy League? 5/6

[US Open Tennis @usopen]

History for Hong Kong! 🇭🇰

21-year-old Coleman Wong becomes the first player from Hong Kong in the Open Era to win a singles main draw match at a Grand Slam!

[Brandon @b3108]

Until today, the only other HK men to reach any main draw of what is now a tennis Grand Slam were Yip Kwun-Hung (1951 & 1952) & Richard Tsai (1954), both at the then-amateur Wimbledon tournament. Coleman Wong breaks that drought, & for the first time in the Open Era (since 1968).

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

The Hong Kong Watergate continues.

[Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hkfp]

[Recap] Hong Kong’s logistics director has apologised for his department’s oversights, breaking his silence on a bottled water supply scandal that has engulfed the administration this month. https://t.co/K0KkY4unxq

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

An important question not asked in this incident: why is the government still buying bottled water instead of installing filters, which are more eco-friendly and cost-saving?

[Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hkfp]

Hong Kong treasury chief admits ‘inadequacies’ in HK$52.9m water contract blunder. In full: https://t.co/MxzqpzlDZf

[pyaezone @pyaezone]

It's not that #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar has stopped. It’s just gotten so bad, so constant everyday, we don’t even know what to say or post anymore. We are tired of screaming into a void no one hears. And the world is just watching us disappear...

[Francesca Chiu @chiu_francesca]

Thrilled to share my latest open-access article for
@IJURResearch! I dig into what drives so many people to spend their life savings on informal claims to urban land in places so quiet and remote many municipal officials barely know they exist. Please read and share!

[IJURR.org @IJURResearch]

📢 Available in Early View: Beyond Planned Developments: Small-Scale Land Speculation and Displacement in Peri-Urban Myanmar

By Francesca Chiu

👉 https://t.co/wiZgQNLH2o