Our Research Lab

Tianzuo Wen (文天祚) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since 2023. He earned his PhD from the Department of Urban Planning and Design at HKU. Prior to that, he received his master's degree in Urban and Regional Development from Peking University and a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning from the South China University of Technology. His research interests include state-market relations, urban governance and financing, public-private partnerships, regional development, and urban climate. Currently, he is conducting research on sustainable urban development strategies.

Huiting Chen (陈慧婷) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since 2024, supervised by Professor Shenjing He. Dr Chen earned her PhD and bachelor’s degree from the School of Resource and Environmental Sciences at Wuhan University. Her research interests include urban planning, climate resilience, and climate justice. Currently, she is conducting research on flood resilience and the trade-offs between climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban planning.

Yutian Lu (陆渝天) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since 2025, supervised by Professor Shenjing He. Yutian received his PhD in Design Science from Zhejiang University and, prior to that, earned a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the same institution. His research focuses on green exposure and environmental justice, with a particular interest in the links between environmental exposure and public health.

Xiaoyue (邓小月) is s Ph.D. student at the Department of Urban Planning and Desigh, Faulty of Architecture, HKU from 2023. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degree in Human Geography from Peking University Before joining SIEW, her research focused on urban scaling law and the ubran science.  Xiaoyue's research interests are urban governance, regional planning and development, education-led gentrifacion, and social urban geography.

Dining Liu (刘迪宁) is a Ph.D. student with a keen interest in corporate social innovation for sustainable development. Before joining SIEW Lab in 2023, she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture from Beijing Forestry University, a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology from University of California, Berkeley. As a program manager and urban designer, she has four-year international working experience in Hong Kong, London, and San Francisco Bay Area.    

Yiwen Zhu (祝怡文) is a 4-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at University of Hong Kong. Before joining SIEW lab in 2023, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Information Resource Management at Zhejiang University in 2023. Yiwen’s current research interests lie in healthy cities, urban big data analytics, supervised learning, social inequality and well-being.

Wenying Tu (涂文颖) is a Ph.D. student. Wenying obtained her master's and bachelor's degree in urban and rural planning from Tsinghua University. Before joining SIEW, her research focused on urban regeneration, population vacating and urban analysis. Her current interest lies on social inequality, with a focus on the intersection of social-spatial restructuring and urban resource distribution.

Cefang Deng (邓 策 方）is a Ph.D. student who joined in 2025. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Macau and his master’s degree in Urban Planning from the National University of Singapore, where he conducted research on the aquatic environment of the Pearl River Estuary and the capitalization of green spaces in Singapore. Prior to joining the SIEW Lab, he worked several times as an assistant researcher at a planning institute and in the estate research department of a fund company. Therefore his research interests focus on urban redevelopment, the built environment and the housing price relationship. He has recently expanded his research to include healthy cities, household assets, and social capital.

Mengzhuomei Wang (王孟卓美) is a Ph.D. student joined SIEW lab in 2025. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Landscape Gardening from Zhejiang University and an MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she conducted research on the correlation between natural environments and cognitive function. Her current research interests focus on public health and well-being, with the aim of creating healthier and more equitable cities.

Chin Hei (Antonio) is an MPhil student who has been with the SIEW Lab since 2025. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from the University of Hong Kong in the same year. His current research interests include housing policy and inequality, infill development, and well-being. He also has experience in conducting archival research in Hong Kong, with a focus on the development history of new towns.

Chenxi Li (李晨曦) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since Autumn 2024. Chenxi received her PhD from the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Hong Kong. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as a market researcher in the real estate industry. She also holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Human Geography from Sun Yat-sen University. Her research interests include rental housing studies, urban renewal, and neighbourhood effects.

Lirong Hu (胡莉蓉) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since Autumn 2025. Dr Hu earned her PhD from the Department of Urban Planning and Design at HKU. Prior to that, she obtained her master’s degree in GIS from Wuhan University and a bachelor’s degree in GIS from Huazhong Agricultural University. Her research interests lie in the geo-big data analysis of urban applications, capitalization of social infrastructure, housing inequalities and health effects.

Bai, Mingze (白明泽), Ph.D. Student. Mingze's research interests include urban development, real estate markets, capital mobility, rent theory, etc. Mingze's Ph.D. project discusses the development of Asian real estate investment trusts from the perspective of real estate financialization

Sijie (董思婕) is a Ph.D. student. She holds a bachelor's degree in Human Geography & East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto and a MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration from the University of Cambridge. Sijie's research interests revolve around urban redevelopment, migrants, and social equity issues, with a specific focus on education, gender, and housing inequality.

Ziming Wang（王子銘） is a PhD candidate who joined SIEW Lab in 2023. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Tsinghua University, and a M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Prior to the present role, he was awarded a research grant by the 2022 Onera Prize for Historic Preservation, and held internship or research/teaching assistantship positions at a number of institutions, including Columbia GSAPP, NYCDCP, and WHITRAP Shanghai. With an interdisciplinary training, his research interests lie across climate resilience, social equity, and urban conservation and regeneration, with a current focus on climate gentrification in Global East cities. At HKU, his work has been recognised by the 2024 Esri Young Scholars Award (Hong Kong), and the Arup Research Competition 2024.

Yuan Gao (高远) is a first-year Ph.D. student. She obtained her undergraduate and master’s degrees in urban and regional planning from Peking University, where she conducted firsthand research on China’s land use and planning systems and gained diverse social survey experiences. Her research interests lie in climate change equity and mitigation measures, land use policy, rural livelihoods and energy poverty.

Zekun Zhou (周泽昆), Ph.D. student, joined the SIEW Lab in 2024. He obtained bachelor's degree of sociology at Tongji University and master's degree of urban planning at Columbia University. His research interest falls on the connection between institutions and tension between local stakeholders in cross-border area. He has also participated in a number of project-based internship at local planning department in the Greater Bay Area and Barcelona, providing him with more comprehension of local governance.

Zihan Liu (刘子涵) is a first-year Ph.D. student, joined the SIEW Lab in 2025. She obtained both her bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning, Design and Management and her master’s degree in Urban Spatial Science from University College London. Zihan’s current research interests include healthy cities, housing inequality, geospatial analytics, and remote sensing.

Dian Xia (夏典) is a Ph.D student who joined the SIEW Lab in Fall 2025. Dian obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Geography at University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning at Columbia University. Before his current role, he worked as an planning consultant focusing on environmental clearance. His research interests include urban climate resilience, geospatial data analytics, and international transportation development.

Dr Honglin ZHU (朱虹霖) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since 2024. ZHU earned her PhD from the Department of Geography at HKBU. Prior to that, she received her master’s degree in the College of Water Sciences from Beijing Normal University and a bachelor’s degree in the School of Water Resources and Hydropower from Wuhan University. Her research interests include geospatial big data analysis, machine learning for environmental monitoring, and urban health science. Currently, she is conducting research on urban resilience to flooding.

Qingyuan Zhang (張清源) is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the SIEW Lab since 2025, supervised by Professor Shenjing He. Qingyuan obtained his PhD from the School of Geographic Sciences at East China Normal University. Prior to that, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in tourism management from Anhui Normal University. His research interests include urban and rural governance, gentrification, and tourism geographies. Currently, he is conducting research on gentrification and neighbourhood governance. E-mail: jhszqy@hku.hk

Weihang (龚卫航) is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture, HKU in 2022. He obtained his bachelor's degree in human geography from Zhejiang University and his Mphil degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2021. His research interests include regional planning and development, gentrification, and rural governance. 

Zixuan Han (韩子璇) is a Ph.D. student. Zixuan obtained her master's and bachelor's degree both from Wuhan University. Zixuan's research interests concentrate on health geography, especially about the health-related quality of life, public service and policy, and associated social inequalities. Zixuan is participating in a project focusing on cross-border healthcare and residential mobility within the Greater Bay Area.

Li Ziyuan (李梓源) is a Ph.D. student who joined the SIEW lab in 2024. Ziyuan obtained her bachelor's degree in Landscape Studies from the University of Hong Kong, and her research focused on climate justice and grassroots migrants' climate actions. Her current research interests lie in cross-border migration, education and housing inequality, and regional governance in the Great Bay Area.

Lin, Jingjie (林靖杰), Ph.D. Student. Before joining the University of Hong Kong and SIEW Lab, Jingjie obtained his bachelor's degree in urban and rural planning from Sun Yat-Sen University and his master's degree from Nanjing University. His research interests include urban governance, urban regeneration, and urban-rural migration.

Yuting Cheng (程雨婷) is a Ph.D student who joined the SIEW Lab in 2025. She holds double bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Public Administration from Tsinghua University (2023) and graduated with distinction in MAChDS at the University of Hong Kong (2024). Before her current role, she was a research/consultant intern and curator at diverse heritage conservation and urban design institutions. Her research interests include cultural heritage, urban redevelopment/ gentrification, entrepreneurial urbanism, affective infrastructure, and community design.

Ruoping Lyu (吕若平) joined SIEW Lab as a Ph.D. student since 2025. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and Administration from Renmin University of China and an MPlan in City Planning from the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. Before joining SIEW Lab, he gained experience with planning authorities, consultancies, and NGOs in both the UK and China. His research interests centre on community regeneration, urban resilience, and public health.

Li Zhiyuan (李志远) is a PhD student in the Department of Urban Planning and Design within the Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), under the supervision of Professor He Shenjing. He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research mainly investigates the complex interplay between socio-spatial factors and population health outcomes, with a particular focus on uncovering the structural drivers of health inequities.