Prof. Kris HARTLEY

• Political power and expert knowledge in policymaking
• Global-to-local policy transfer for environmental sustainability (SDGs)
• Technology, technocracy, and smart cities
• Public policy/administration theory and epistemics
• Circular economy transition

Kris Hartley is Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Program Leader of the Masters of Social Sciences in Sustainability and Development Studies in the Department of Public and International Affairs at City University of Hong Kong. He researches the role of public policy in technology-enabled sustainability transitions, with a focus on circular economy. Kris has published books with Cambridge University Press and Routledge Press, and peer-reviewed articles on a variety of topics including environmental policy, smart cities, and global development. He has previously been a Fulbright U.S. Scholar (2020) and has held faculty appointments at Cornell University, University of Melbourne, and Education University of Hong Kong.

With over a decade of public and private sector experience, Kris has worked with the United Nations Environment Programme, ASEAN Secretariat, central and local government agencies in the United States, New Zealand, and Thailand, research institutes in Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia, and private sector firms including Microsoft and Huawei. He has consulted on a variety of topics including sustainable urban development, transportation planning, earthquake recovery, digital transformation, and infrastructure management.

Kris’s research and consulting projects are connected by the overarching theme of new public policy models for the 21st century. His 2022 book with Cambridge University Press (Disrupted governance: towards a new policy science) addresses the shifting contexts and understandings of public policy in an age of uncertainty and disruption. His 2014 and 2020 books (both with Routledge Press) address governance and public policy amidst global systemic disruptions. His research has been published in a variety of leading academic journals including Policy Sciences, Policy and Society, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Telematics and Informatics, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Telecommunications Policy, Geoforum, Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Environmental Development, and City, Culture and Society, among others.

Kris serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including Policy Design and Practice, International Journal of Water Resources Development, Journal of Circular Economy, and Australian Journal of Public Administration. He has pursued an active external engagement agenda, presenting at over 50 academic conferences, giving numerous broadcast interviews and invited lectures, and publishing over 100 commentaries in press venues including CNN International, Huffington Post, South China Morning Post, and The Straits Times. He has been quoted for articles in Times Higher Education and Reuters, and was interviewed on-air by Australian Broadcasting Corporation about employment and technological change.

Kris holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the National University of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy), a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts (Phi Beta Kappa) in Classics from the University of Tennessee. As a doctoral student, he held the President’s Graduate Fellowship and was awarded the 2016 Wang Gungwu Medal and Prize for best Ph.D. thesis in the Social Sciences and the Musim Mas Dissertation Award for Research on Sustainability. Prior to his career in consulting and academia, he worked as a secondary school Latin teacher, wedding pianist, and NPR radio announcer. Kris is originally from Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

PIA4071 - Globalization and the Environment

PIA5038 - Environmental Challenges in Asia and the World

PIA4151/GE3209 - Managing Global Challenges

PIA5051 - Collaborative Governance for Sustainability

Editorial Board, Australian Journal of Public Administration

Editorial Board, International Journal of Water Resources Development

Editorial Board, Circular Economy

Policy Briefs Editor, Water International

Associate Editor, Policy and Society 

Assistant Editor, Policy Design and Practice