012026Regional Science and Urban Economics
Yihao WU · Harvard Graduate School of Design
Cities.Designs.Sustainability.
Doctoral Candidate in Urban Planning, Harvard University
I investigate how policy, planning, and design reshape the economic, social, and health outcomes of urban transformation—combining urban science, economics, geography, big data, and AI.
Based Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Urban sustainability, urban economics, housing, GeoAI
Practice Urban regeneration, adaptive reuse, landscape urbanism, architecture design
Before Harvard, I practiced as a senior city planner and architect in Shanghai, focusing on transportation hubs, manufacturing land, and post-industrial communities. My design work has received international recognition from the UDAD, MUSE Design Awards, London International Creative Competition, and DNA Paris Awards.
My work appears in Urban Studies, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Landscape and Urban Planning, and Cities. I have completed or am undertaking research projects funded or commissioned by the Salata Institute, the American Planning Association (APA), and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
012026
022025Urban Studies
Housing Market with Informal Density Agglomeration: Investigating the Form-Context Transition of Urban Village in China
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032026Landscape and Urban Planning
From Vulnerability to Adaptation: A Systematic Review of Land-Based Economic Outcomes of Adverse Climate Events
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01Infrastructural Urbanism: Yangpu Waterfront
A former manufacturing waterfront becomes a continuous and inclusive public landscape through industrial-heritage reuse, ecological repair, and new multimodal connections.
02Hub in Nature: Hangzhou West Railway Hub
A high-speed rail hub is recast as an ecological-cultural axis, preserving habitat corridors and organizing public space through a landscape inspired by the traditional shanshui scroll.