Trained as a geographer and urban planner, Dr Zhang’s research focuses on the governance of urbanisation and urbanism in China.
Dr Zhang holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Manchester, a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Peking University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economic Geography from Sun Yat-sen University.
Prior to joining Yale-NUS, Dr Zhang worked as an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University. He also used to serve as a Research Assistant to Chair Professor Anthony Yeh in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at The University of Hong Kong before undertaking his PhD.
- Comparative analysis of urban governance and policy mobility in Chinese cities, examining the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the need for an overhaul of entrepreneurial urbanism theory to explain urban governance shifts.
- Research on shifting Chinese urban governance arrangements in a post-rapid growth age, exploring how urban governance models evolve in response to changing economic, social, and environmental contexts.
- Investigation of the impact of US-China technological decoupling on urban development and policy making in Chinese cities.
- Examination of the internationalisation of Chinese urbanism amidst the ‘end of globalisation,’ with a particular focus on the Belt and Road Initiative’s role in shaping urbanisation trends and practices beyond China’s borders.
- Urban governance
- Urban geography
- Critical economic geography
- Urban planning theory
Recent publications:
Zhang Y. (in press). The scale question as an urban question: When state entrepreneurialism meets homo urbanicus. Transactions in Planning and Urban Research. Special issue: Urban dynamics across scales: Insights for Planning and Governance.
Zhang, Y. (2024). The partnership question as a scale question: Extending the theorization of entrepreneurial urbanism in China. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 48(5), 789-814. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13266
Wei, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Vertical expansion in the making: Planning against deindustrialization by promoting “Industry’s Going Upstairs” in Shenzhen. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(5), 1447-1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X241226889
- Urbanization in China
- Key Debates in Urban Planning and Policy
- Cities and Economic Development
- Community Development: In Search of the Kampung Spirit
