Harvey NEO | Professorial Research Fellow

Biography

Harvey’s research focuses on urban futures, citizen urban science and policy-making as well as nature-society interactions. He has won multiple awards in his research and teaching in the areas of urban sustainable development, environmental geography and social theory when he was Associate Professor of Geography at the National University of Singapore. Harvey is the Southeast Asian editor of the journal "Human Geography" (Sage Publications) and "Frontiers in Sustainable Cities: Cities in the Global South". He sits on the International Advisory Boards of "Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation Book Series" (published by University of Georgia Press), "Geoforum" and "Progress in Environmental Geography". He is one of seven appointed to the Housing and Development Board Research Advisory Panel which is the consulting body for research conducted by Housing Development Board, Singapore. He is concurrently Director of the Master in Urban Science, Policy and Planning programme at Singapore University of Technology and Design.

At the LKYCIC, Harvey leads the Southeast Asian focused "Cities and Urban Science" programme which looks at how a citizen-centric urban science can be practised, and sustained in tandem with “big data”. This is being studied in Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila and Phnom Penh on the interlinked topics of walkability and electric vehicular policies. Harvey is Programme Lead of the "Urban Environmental Sustainability" programme at the LKYCIC where he is the Principal Investigator of the Social Sciences Research Council funded project on human adaptations to urban heat. At the Centre, he also co-leads, with Dr Samuel Chng, the Tote Board supported "Future Ready Society Knowledge Partnership and Impact Fund" (FRS). The FRS is a first-of-its kind programme in Singapore that bridges research & practice and fosters meaningful partnerships of the 3P+ (People, Public, Private + Academia) sectors to strengthen society's future readiness through novel solutioning.

Education

• PhD, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Massachusetts, USA (2007)
• MSc, Geography, National University of Singapore (2002)
• BA (Hons), National University of Singapore

Publications

• Chng, Samuel., Neo, Harvey., Tan, Ariel. & Li, Bayi. (2023). The role of labour unions in a just transition: Insights from the workers. Singapore Labour Journal, 2, 39-53. doi: 10.1142/S2811031523000141
• Huang, Bernice., Choi, Yunkyung., Chng, Samuel., & Neo, Harvey. (2023). Examining Policy Strategies for Electrifying Transportation in ASEAN: A STEELUP Framework Evaluation. Sustainability, 15(22), 15708. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su152215708
• Chng, Samuel., Neo, Harvey., Tan, Ariel. & Li, Bayi. (2023). Trends, Jobs and Skills in Sustainability. Report for National Trade Union Congress.
• Benita, Francisco., Fuentes, Luis., Guzman, Luis Angel., Martinez, Rafael., Munoz, Juan Carlos., Neo, Harvey., Rodriguez-Leiva, Sebastian., & Soza-Parra, Jaime. (2022). Comparing COVID-19 in the antipodes: Insights from pandemic containment strategies on both sides of the Pacific. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, (15), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2022.100660
• Neo, Harvey. (2020). The Post-politics of Environmentalism in Singapore in Jobin, P (Ed.) Environmental Movement in Southeast Asia. ISEAS, Singapore.
• Neo, Harvey. (2019). Chongqing: Propelling the “Smart” Wave in Southwest China in Bris, Arturo., Cabolis, Christos., Chan, Heng Chee & Lanvin, Bruno (Eds.) Sixteen Shades of Smart: How Cities Can Shape Their Own Future. IMD International.
• Neo, Harvey. (2019). Seoul: Citizen-centric Seoul Grows from Strength to Strength in Bris, Arturo., Cabolis, Christos., Chan, Heng Chee & Lanvin, Bruno (Eds), Sixteen Shades of Smart: How Cities Can Shape Their Own Future, IMD International.
• Pow, Choon-Piew., & Neo, Harvey. (2018). Environmental Governance and Citizenship Participation in Nanjing. Habitat International.
• Neo, Harvey. & Emel, Jody. (2017). Geographies of Meat: Politics, Economy and Culture, Critical Food Studies Series. Taylor and Francis.
• Neo, Harvey. & Chua, Chengying. (2017). Beyond inclusion and exclusion: Community gardens as spaces of responsibility. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 107(3), 666-681.
• Lin, Heng Lye., Neo, Harvey., Kondepudi, Sekhar., Yew, Wen-Shen., & Sng, Judy Gek-Khim. (2017). (Eds) Sustainability Matters: Environmental Management in the Anthropocene. World Scientific, Singapore.
• Neo, Harvey. (2016). Rethinking ethical food consumption through meaningful substitution: the contradictions and challenges of vegetarianism advocacy. Geographical Journal. DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12130.
• Neo, Harvey. & Pow, Choon-Piew. (2015). The weight of small cities: Development and the rural-urban nexus in Jinghong, Southwest China. The Professional Geographer, 67(4), 555-563.
• Neo, Harvey. & Pow, Choon-Piew. (2015). Eco-cities and the promise of socio-environmental justice, in R. Bryant (Ed.) Handbook of Political Ecology, Edward Elgar, pp. 401-416.
• Neo, Harvey. & Pow, Choon-Piew. (2015). Mobilizing green urbanism and the urban sustainability fix in China. Area, 47(2), 132-140.
• Neo, Harvey. & Pow, Choon-Piew. (2013). Seeing red over green: contesting urban sustainabilities in China. Urban Studies, 50(11), 2256-2274.
• Yeo, Jun-Han., & Neo, Harvey. (2010). Monkey business: Human-animal conflicts in urban Singapore. Social and Cultural Geography, 11(7), 681-700.
• Neo, Harvey. (2010). Unravelling the post-politics of golf course provision in Singapore. Sport and Social Issues (Special issue on golf and society), 34(3), 272-287.
• Neo, Harvey. (2010). The potential of large-scale urban waste recycling: a case study of the National Recycling Programme in Singapore. Society and Natural Resources, 23(9), 872-887.

Conference Presentations/Proceedings

• Suhaila, Zainal. Shah., Chng, Samuel., Chan, Sarah., & Neo, Harvey. (2024, May). Exploring Psychosocial Differences Underlying Divergent Public Priorities across Societal, Technological, Economical, Environmental, and Political Issues. Paper presented at the Association of Psychological Science 2024 Annual Convention.
• Chan, Sarah., Chng, Samuel. & Neo, Harvey. (2024, May). A Comprehensive Investigation of Psycho-Social Barriers to Environmentally Sustainable Heat Coping Action in the Tropics. Paper presented at the Association of Psychological Science 2024 Annual Convention.