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

• Chan, S., Sim, J. D. W., Borzino, N., Li, Y., Naing, K. M., Tan, P. M. S., Tay, Y. X., Du, Y., Chng, S., Lee, J. K. W., Zheng, K., & Neo, H. 2026, Conditioned comfort: A multi-scalar analysis of residential heat adaptation in the tropical city-state of Singapore. Urban Climate, 103015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2026.103015
• Borzino, N., Chng, S., Chan, S., Naing, K. M., Tay, Y. X., & Neo, H. 2026, Private cooling, urban heat, and the limits of collective climate action in tropical cities. Sustainable Cities and Society, 107444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2026.107444
• Du, Y., Chng, S., Zainal Shah, S., & Neo, H. (in press, Cross-sector collaboration in urban mobility: A “public-private-people plus academia” (3P+) partnership model for sustainable mobility governance. International Journal on Smart and Sustainable Cities.
• Du, Y., Chng, S., Zainal Shah, S., & Neo, H. 2025, Looking back at 25 years of participatory budgeting in Asia: A systematic review of trends, challenges, and best practices. International Journal of Public Administration. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2025.2485247
• Chng, S., Neo, H., Tan, A., & Li, B. 2023, The role of labour unions in a just transition: Insights from the workers. Singapore Labour Journal, 2, 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2811031523000141
• Huang, B., Choi, Y., Chng, S., & Neo, H. 2023, Examining policy strategies for electrifying transportation in ASEAN: A STEELUP framework evaluation. Sustainability, 15(22), 15708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152215708
• Chng, S., Neo, H., Tan, A., & Li, B. 2023, Trends, jobs and skills in sustainability. National Trade Union Congress.
• Benita, F., Fuentes, L., Guzman, L. A., Martinez, R., Munoz, J. C., Neo, H., Rodriguez-Leiva, S., & Soza-Parra, J. 2022, Comparing COVID-19 in the antipodes: Insights from pandemic containment strategies on both sides of the Pacific. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 15, 100660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2022.100660
• Neo, H. 2020, The post-politics of environmentalism in Singapore. In P. Jobin (Ed.), Environmental movement in Southeast Asia. ISEAS Publishing.
• Neo, H. 2019, Chongqing: Propelling the “smart” wave in Southwest China. In A. Bris, C. Cabolis, H. C. Chan, & B. Lanvin (Eds.), Sixteen shades of smart: How cities can shape their own future. IMD International.
• Neo, H. 2019, Seoul: Citizen-centric Seoul grows from strength to strength. In A. Bris, C. Cabolis, H. C. Chan, & B. Lanvin (Eds.), Sixteen shades of smart: How cities can shape their own future. IMD International.
• Pow, C.-P., & Neo, H. 2018, Environmental governance and citizenship participation in Nanjing. Habitat International.
• Neo, H., & Emel, J. 2017, Geographies of meat: Politics, economy and culture. Routledge.
• Neo, H., & Chua, C. 2017, Beyond inclusion and exclusion: Community gardens as spaces of responsibility. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 107(3), 666–681.
• Lin, H. L., Neo, H., Kondepudi, S., Yew, W.-S., & Sng, J. G.-K. (Eds), 2017, Sustainability matters: Environmental management in the Anthropocene. World Scientific.
• Neo, H. 2016, Rethinking ethical food consumption through meaningful substitution: The contradictions and challenges of vegetarianism advocacy. The Geographical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12130
• Neo, H., & Pow, C.-P. 2015, The weight of small cities: Development and the rural-urban nexus in Jinghong, Southwest China. The Professional Geographer, 67(4), 555–563.
• Neo, H., & Pow, C.-P. 2015, Eco-cities and the promise of socio-environmental justice. In R. Bryant (Ed.), Handbook of political ecology (pp. 401–416, Edward Elgar.
• Neo, H., & Pow, C.-P. 2015, Mobilizing green urbanism and the urban sustainability fix in China. Area, 47(2), 132–140.
• Neo, H., & Pow, C.-P. 2013, Seeing red over green: Contesting urban sustainabilities in China. Urban Studies, 50(11), 2256–2274.
• Yeo, J.-H., & Neo, H. 2010, Monkey business: Human-animal conflicts in urban Singapore. Social & Cultural Geography, 11(7), 681–700.
• Neo, H. 2010, Unravelling the post-politics of golf course provision in Singapore. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 34(3), 272–287.
• Neo, H. 2010, The potential of large-scale urban waste recycling: A case study of the National Recycling Programme in Singapore. Society & Natural Resources, 23(9), 872–887.

Conference Presentations/Proceedings

• Liu, X., Ansel, N., Wong, S., Niang, K. M., Chng, S., & Neo, H. (2025, August), 2025, Synthesising travel demand in data-scarce cities: A case study in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 7th Bridging Transport Researchers (BTR) Online Conference.
• Zainal Shah, S., Chng, S., Chan, S., & Neo, H. (2024, May), 2024, Exploring psychosocial differences underlying divergent public priorities across societal, technological, economical, environmental, and political issues, Association for Psychological Science 2024 Annual Convention.
• Chan, S., Chng, S., & Neo, H. (2024, May), 2024, A comprehensive investigation of psycho-social barriers to environmentally sustainable heat coping action in the tropics, Association for Psychological Science 2024 Annual Convention.