Each site is connected to a collective of universities or knowledge institutes. INTI collaborates locally with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University, China Development Institute, Shenzhen Center for Design and architecture offices Urbanus and NODE.

In order to define the research and design agenda for Dutch and Chinese students, INTI organized a three-day expert meeting (September 22-25, 2012). The participants included:
Linda Vlassenrood (Program Director INTI),
Stephen Read (Associate Professor, Chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy – Delft University of Technology),
Diego Sepulveda Carmona (Assistant Professor, Chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy – Delft University of Technology),
Qu Lei (Researcher, Chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy – Delft University of Technology),
Arnold Reijndorp (Professor of Social-economic and Spatial Development of New Urban Areas, Centre for Urban Studies – University of Amsterdam),
Henk Meijer (Project Director Sustainable Spatial Planning – Municipality of Almere),
Harry Zondag (Strategic Advisor Spatial Planning – Municipality of Almere),
Ronald Wall (Economic Geographer – Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies),
Gaston Remmers (Chair Eco-effective Entrepreneurship in Urban Environments – CAH Almere University of Applied Sciences),
Juan Du (Director of Master of Architecture Program and Assistant Professor – Hong Kong University),
Huang Weiwen (Director Shenzhen Center for Design and Deputy Chief Planner, Urban Planning and Land Resource Commission of Shenzhen Municipality),
Tat Lam (Chinese University of Hong Kong – Director Urbanus Research Bureau),
Travis Bunt (Chinese University of Hong Kong – Director Urbanus Hong Kong),
Doreen Liu (Chinese University of Hong Kong – Principal NODE Architecture & Urbanism),
Li Jinkui (Professor Institute of Urbanization – China Development Institute).

The expert meeting was made possible with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China.