Building on the second volume of Univer-Cities: Strategic View of the Future — From Berkeley and Cambridge to Singapore and Rising Asia edited by Anthony SC Teo and published in 2015, this third edition presents 12 chapters weaving the dilemmas of strategy and leadership in one of humanity's beloved institutions, the university (with a long view strategy) and the city (a relatively shorter one).

Based on the 2016 Univer-Cities conference hosted by the University of Newcastle, contributors of this volume reflect on the deliberations made by the conference participants, including academic leaders from University of Cambridge and University of California, Berkeley, urban architects, policy planners, and public office holders.

The book hopes to engage the universities' top leadership in addressing accusations of elitism by re-societalisation of the varsities with their eco-system. Often criticised for being unresponsive to the pressing and accumulating problems faced by cities and societies, more can be done for universities to exert their socio-economic benefits and contribute to the progress of humankind. It is a call for academic elites to integrate basic research with the universities' strengths in medical disciplines for community advancement, urban planning, innovation systems and regional economic growth.