Dr Tianren Yang

Subject: Architecture

Department/institution: Department of Architecture

Contact details: ty290@cam.ac.uk

Research interests:

Tianren Yang has been a Research Associate at the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies since completing his PhD at Cambridge. He is interested in developing advanced urban analytics and modelling to provide a scientific understanding of how cities evolve, particularly in relation to technology, policy and human behaviour. His current research explores integrated policy perspectives to measure and predict how to maximise economic, environmental and social benefits through the spatial coordination of various urban developments (e.g. housing, jobs and transport).

As a chartered urban planner, Dr Yang consults widely for industry in real estate and city development, endeavouring to apply research insights to practical decision-making. He has worked for the China Development Bank, Boston Consulting Group, and EPSRC Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction on analysing and modelling large-scale urban changes. So far, he has taken part in the development of computer models for several dominant city regions in the UK (Greater London and Cambridge), the USA (Chicago Metropolitan Area) and China (Greater Shanghai and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei).

Selected publications:

  • Pan, H., Yang, T.*, Jin, Y., Dall’Erba, S., & Hewings, G. (2021). Understanding heterogeneous spatial production externalities as a missing link between land use planning and urban economic futures. Regional Studies, 55(1), 90-100. *Corresponding author.
  • Yang, T. (2020). Understanding commuting patterns and changes: Counterfactual analysis in a planning-support framework. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 47(8), 1440-1455.
  • Hu, L., Yang, J., Yang, T., Tu, Y., & Zhu, J. (2020). Urban spatial structure and travel in China. Journal of Planning Literature, 35(1), 6-24.
  • Yang, T., Jin, Y., Yan, L., & Pei, P. (2019). Aspirations and realities of polycentric development: Insights from multi-source data into the emerging urban form of Shanghai. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(7), 1264-1280. 
  • Yang, T., Pan, H., Hewings, G., & Jin, Y. (2019). Understanding urban sub-centers with heterogeneity in agglomeration economies—Where do emerging commercial establishments locate? Cities, 86, 25-36.

Selected awards:

  • Shortlisted for Early Career Researcher Award, Royal Town Planning Institute, 2020
  • Regional Studies Association PhD Student Award, 2020
  • Ashok K. Dutt Award for Best Graduate Student Paper, American Association of Geographers, 2019
  • IACP Karen R. Polenske Best Student Paper Award, 2019

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