Kelly, Ashley Scott

BScArch Michigan; MArch Harvard
ContactWWWHKU Scholars HubStudiosResearch
Ashley Scott Kelly is a landscape planner and expert in geographic information systems at the University of Hong Kong. His research and practice focus on scenario-building and filling knowledge gaps for sustainable development, especially in regions that lack adequate knowledge or transparency in development information and spatial data. He applies design methods to land change and landscape ecology, with wide expertise on the manipulation of geospatial data for the study, advocacy, design and delivery of projects in ecologically complex and contested landscapes. Ashley’s recent works include design guidelines for tropical road infrastructure, wildlife corridor modelling and crossing design, and coupling high-resolution remote sensing with historical narratives for novel impact assessment. His professional works range widely in scale, from new town planning to the winning entry for New York City’s 46,000-acre Gateway National Park. Ashley lectures widely and actively engages development agencies across South and Southeast Asia. He has coordinated the Masters thesis in landscape architecture for five years and teaches design courses on regional landscape planning in China, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Full biography:
https://www.ashleyscottkelly.com/bio
Recent courses taught:
ARCH 4704 Landscape Design Studio 5 (Spring 2019-20): Studio Laos: Strategic Landscape Planning for the Greater Mekong
ARCH 3099/7176 Landscape Media (Spring 2019-20)
ARCH 7233 MLA Design Studio III (Fall 2018-19): Environmental Futures Studio: Design, nature and the erosion of conservation in Hong Kong
ARCH 7299 Landscape Thesis Section (Spring 2019-20): Engaging development through critical landscape planning
Recent publications:
Kelly, A. S. (2019, under review). Design Review: Counter-assessment of impacts for the Dawei Road Link, 1995-2018 (Report). World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 198 pp.
Helsingen, H., Kelly, A. S., Connette, G., Paing Soe, Bhagabati, N., Pairojmahakij, R., & Jayasinghe, N. (2019). Nature in peril: The risk to forests and wildlife from the Dawei-Htee Khee Road (Report). World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 51 pp.
Kelly, A. S., Helsingen, H., & Tang, D. (2018). Engineering conservation: Stories and models of infrastructure, impact and uncertainty in southern Myanmar. In Arcus Foundation (Ed.), State of the Apes: Infrastructure and Ape Conservation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Recent speaking engagements:
Kelly, A. S. (2019). Counter-assessment of impacts and history for the Dawei road link, 1995-2019. Opening talk delivered at Thailand and Dawei Special Economic Zone: The Road Link to Kilometer Zero to a forum of academics, NGOs, civil society, community stakeholders, and public at Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (BACC). Bangkok, Thailand.
Kelly, A. S., and Lu, X. (2019). Landscape perspectives on cross-border expertise and knowledge flows. Talk delivered at Land Information Working Group: Special Economic Zone and infrastructure investments in Laos to a forum of NGOs and civil society organizations from several ASEAN countries, Vientiane, Laos.
Kelly, A. S. (2018). Engaging infrastructure development through critical design practice: Campaigns in Southeast Asia. Talk delivered to Environmental, Geostrategic, and Economic Dimensions of the Silk Road Economic Belt, hosted by Duke-Kunshan University and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Center for International and Global Studies, China.
Kelly, A. S. (2018). Critical Linkages. Talk delivered to Landscape Connectivity Workshop, hosted by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and including participants from the IUCN, the Global Tiger Forum, South and Southeast Asian governments, and various environmental research institutes. New Delhi, India.
Kelly, A. S. (2018). Sustainable Development and the Erosion of Conservation in Hong Kong. Talk delivered to CED Talk: Pacific Rim-Urban Resilience by Design. University of California Berkeley College of Environmental Design, Berkeley, California.
Kelly, A. S. (2018). HKILA Land Supply Forum: Evaluating Land & Land Supply Strategies in Hong Kong. Hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects, Hong Kong.
Kelly, A. S. (2017). Infrastructure, Impact and Uncertainty: Scenario-based approaches to upstream design, wildlife connectivity and sustainable construction in transport planning for southern Myanmar. Presented at the Forum on Sustainable Infrastructure: Integrating Climate Resilience and Natural Capital into Transport Infrastructure Planning and Design, hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Kelly, A. S. (2017). Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong: Questions we could be asking. Delivered opening remarks to 2017 Annual Land Forum: Land Challenges Amid New Administration. Hosted by The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Architecture, Designing Hong Kong, Land Watch, and the Professional Commons. Hong Kong.
Kelly, A. S. (2017). Engineering Conservation: Upstreaming landscape design and sustainable construction in linear infrastructure planning. Talk hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects (HKILA), Hong Kong.
Recent teaching awards:
Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong (2019).
Excellent Instructor award, 15th National Annual Conference on Architecture and Design Education, for supervising student thesis by Au Young Chung Yan Samantha (Landscape and Planning Design, Silver Award) titled “An Environmental Rationale: Strategies to reconcile the graduated sovereignty of northern China’s eco-modernization programs” (2018). Samantha’s thesis was later published as: Au Young, C. Y. (2019). An Environmental Rationale: Strategies to reconcile the graduated sovereignty of northern China’s eco-modernization programs. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 7(1), 138-149.
Outstanding Instructor award, 16th Annual Asia Design Awards, for supervising student thesis by Kwok Siu Man (Ecological health and sustainability category, Bronze Award) titled “Bioremediation and Blue Tape: Regulating the uncertainty, assessment and negotiation of coastal development in Hainan” (2018).
Supervised thesis, Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects, Student Award, recognized for supervising thesis by Li Man Hei titled “Green Belt, Grey Belt? Non-zoned approaches to landscape evaluation and management in Hong Kong” (2018).
Studios
Landscape Planning Studio: Design on the Road to BurmaAshley Kelly & Dorothy Tang
BALS Studios2014-15

Shengtai lizhou (or Projects for eco-environmental landscapes)Ashley Kelly
MLA Thesis2014-15

Landscape Planning Studio: Design on the Road to Burma 2016Ashley Kelly & Dorothy Tang
BALS Studios

Shengtai lizhou (or Projects for eco-environmental landscapes)Ashley Kelly
MLA Thesis2015-16

Landscape Planning Studio: Design on the Road to Burma 2017Ashley Kelly & Ivan Valin
BALS Studios2016-17

Studio Nepal: Designing nature, standards, and discontinuities in the HimalayasAshley Kelly
MLA Studios2016-17

Shengtai lizhou (or Projects for eco-environmental landscapes)Ashley Kelly
MLA Thesis2016-17

Studio Laos: Strategic Landscape Planning for the Greater MekongAshley Kelly & Xiaoxuan Lu
BALS Studios2017-18

Design Analytics: Nature, regions, and the erosion of conservation in Hong KongAshley Kelly
MLA Seminar2017-18

Shengtai lizhou (or Projects for eco-environmental landscapes)Ashley Kelly
MLA Thesis2017-18

Studio Laos: Strategic Landscape Planning for the Greater MekongAshley Kelly & Xiaoxuan Lu
BALS Studios2018-19

Environmental Futures Studio: Design, Nature and the Erosion of Conservation in Hong KongAshley Kelly
MLA Studios2018-19

Engaging development through critical landscape planningAshley Kelly
MLA Thesis2018-19

Studio Laos: Strategic Landscape Planning for the Greater MekongAshley Kelly & Xiaoxuan Lu
BALS Studios2019-20

Engaging development through critical landscape planningAshley Kelly
MLA Thesis2019-20

Research
Green=walkable?Ashley Kelly , Chinmoy Sarkar , Chris Webster , Dorothy Tang , Matthew Pryor , Scott Melbourne & Zhang Xiaohu
Healthy High Density Cities Lab

The Road to Dawei: Planning Sustainable Transport Infrastructure and Wildlife Connectivity in Southern MyanmarAshley Kelly & Dorothy Tang
Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities Initiative

Urban ResilienceAshley Kelly , Cecilia Chu , Eric H Schuldenfrei , Ivan Valin & Michael Kokora

COVID-19 GeolocationAshley Kelly & Eric H Schuldenfrei
Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities Initiative

COVID-19 Spatial Contact TracingAshley Kelly & Eric H Schuldenfrei
Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities Initiative

Counter-assessmentAshley Kelly
Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities Initiative

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