Francesca Chiu
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francescachiu.bsky.social
Francesca Chiu
@francescachiu.bsky.social
Researcher & lecturer at CityU Hong Kong. PhD from Copenhagen & UEA. I study urban planning, property, citizenship, migration and social movements in Southeast Asia.
Pinned
My article on land speculation in #Myanmar is featured in the latest @ijurresearch.bsky.social. I show how even without developer mega-projects or evictions, small-scale speculation in Mandalay still leads to urban displacement and inequality. Open access: tinyurl.com/24z2yr48
The 2025 National Games are happening and #HongKong is hosting a number of events including #handball. This brought to mind a research project I worked on before my PhD. The project was about electoral representation in the sports and arts functional constituency: doi.org/10.1080/2327... 1/8
November 8, 2025 at 5:48 AM
My article on land speculation in #Myanmar is featured in the latest @ijurresearch.bsky.social. I show how even without developer mega-projects or evictions, small-scale speculation in Mandalay still leads to urban displacement and inequality. Open access: tinyurl.com/24z2yr48
November 6, 2025 at 4:26 AM
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
October 22, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
Students killed at Myanmar boarding school as junta escalates air war reut.rs/47Kc95I
Students killed at Myanmar boarding school as junta escalates air war
A Myanmar military airstrike on a school last week killed at least 19 students, an ethnic militia said, as the war-torn nation's ruling junta steps up a campaign to retake territory ahead of a planned election in December.
reut.rs
September 15, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
It's our fucking job to present students with uncomfortable facts and challenge their worldviews. The point isn't to change their beliefs but to ensure that they can better defend whatever positions they take.
September 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
My first book, Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025), exists in this world!

Check it out at: uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/social...

1/4
September 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
In Opinion

In the 1,000 days since ChatGPT’s release, it has disrupted the university approach to learning, meant to stop students from relying on A.I. “We, of course, do not want our students to fail, but we don’t want them to fail to learn, either,” Clay Shirkey, a vice provost at NYU, writes.
Opinion | The Only Real Solution to the A.I. College Cheating Crisis
Since A.I. has made the mental effort of writing and problem solving optional, universities need new ways to require the work needed for learning.
nyti.ms
August 27, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
EDUCATION IN A WAR ZONE: Karenni Alternative Schools Defying the Odds to Give Kids a Better Life
open.substack.com/pub/mizzimad...
EDUCATION IN A WAR ZONE: Karenni Alternative Schools Defying the Odds to Give Kids a Better Life
Mizzima Weekly Analysis & Insights, Issue-19, Vol-02, August 14, 2025
open.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 8:48 AM
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?
August 20, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Thrilled to share my latest open-access article for
@ijurresearch.bsky.social! 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!
📢 Available in Early View: Beyond Planned Developments: Small-Scale Land Speculation and Displacement in Peri-Urban Myanmar

By Francesca Chiu

👉 www.ijurr.org/article/beyo...
August 12, 2025 at 11:59 AM
At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, I was walking into the immigration hall when a staffer took one look at me and yelled: “You don’t have a US passport.” They hadn’t even checked my documents.

This is how US immigration operates these days. No check. No question. Just assumption & racism.
August 10, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Francesca Chiu
Nearly half the world’s supply of heavy rare earths is extracted from mines in Kachin State, including those north of Bhamo, a strategically-vital garrison town. They are then shipped to China for processing into magnets english.dvb.no/why-chinas-u...
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#rareearth
#kachinstate
Why China's ultimatum to Myanmar rebels threatens global supply of heavy rare earths - DVB
The global supply of heavy rare earths hinges in part on the outcome of a months-long battle between a resistance army and the Chinese-backed military regime in the hills of northern Myanmar. The Kach...
english.dvb.no
July 8, 2025 at 7:58 AM
As an early-career researcher, I hope senior colleagues remember what it felt like starting out. Advocate for us, use your voice to help where we can’t, and challenge the systems that once held you back.
June 30, 2025 at 6:21 AM
People often say #HongKong landlords are greedy for not lowering rents, and sure, some are. But there’s another side to the issue we rarely talk about: many landlords actually can’t afford to lower rent, even if they want to. 1/x

hongkongfp.com/2025/06/24/h...
HK bakery chain Taipan shuts down after 41 years, owing salaries, rent
HK bakery chain Taipan Bread & Cakes, which created the famous snowy mooncakes, has shut down all its stores after 41 years in operation, reportedly owing salaries and rent.
hongkongfp.com
June 25, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I have a new open-access article about #Myanmar in @ijurresearch.bsky.social examining how small-scale land speculation drives intimate displacement and social stratification in urban peripheries. Please read and share! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
BEYOND PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS: Small‐Scale Land Speculation and Displacement in Peri‐Urban Myanmar
Land speculation is a significant factor contributing to the displacement of poor populations in global South cities. While extensive research has examined how urban expansion increases land values—p...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:20 AM