Tianren Yang
Biographic Data
| ID | 5918341 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tianren Yang |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tianren |
| FAMILY NAME | Yang |
| SIGNATURE | YANG T |
| AFFILIATIONS | City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3547-5853 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 53 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Predicting urban futures: Epistemic shifts and the governance of uncertainty
Predicting urban futures has long been central to urban science. This article traces the evolution of urban prediction from structural-equilibrium and process-based models to today’s emerging algorithmic regime. We argue that this shift marks a fundamental epistemic transition from deductive explanation to inductive inference. Examining tensions between explanation, prediction, and policy control, we show that gains in predictive accuracy often c…
The moderating role of ride-hailing in the relationship between metro station proximity and metro use
Llm4gkid: A Multimodal Large Language Model-Driven Framework for Ghost Kitchen Identification
The proliferation of ghost kitchens (i.e., delivery-only restaurants without physical storefronts) poses significant challenges for urban food system monitoring and regulatory oversight. These establishments maintain digital visibility on delivery platforms while eluding visibility in the physical public realm, creating information asymmetries that compromise transparency and consumer protection. This work presents LLM4GKID, a comprehensive appro…
Planning for liveable cities across contexts: A comparative analysis of life satisfaction determinants in Hong Kong and Shenzhen
Creating liveable cities is a central ambition of contemporary urban planning, yet the determinants of urban life satisfaction (a widely recognised indicator of urban liveability) remain contested, particularly across different urban and regional contexts. This study examines the determinants of life satisfaction through a comparative lens, focusing on Hong Kong and Shenzhen, two neighbouring cities that represent distinct urban typologies within…
Balancing urban environmental and societal performance in high-density cities: Morphological trade-offs and optimization strategies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong
Achieving both environmental sustainability and societal prosperity in high-density cities remains a major planning challenge because the same urban form can improve one dimension while worsening the other. This study examines how urban form and land use shape these trade-offs in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, two compact but developmentally distinct cities in southern China. Using a 500 m grid, we measure environmental performance (EPI) from land surfa…
Modelling spatial trade-offs in urban sub-centre planning: A prospective scenario framework linking land value capture and residential welfare
Discovering emerging trends and interdisciplinary mechanisms in urban studies and planning research using topic modelling 1991–2021
This study empirically maps interdisciplinary evolution in urban studies and planning through latent Dirichlet allocation analysis of 44,147 articles from 30 leading journals (1991–2021). We identify 12 research topics organised into three clusters and reveal three distinct interdisciplinary mechanisms: asymmetric knowledge flow where socio-political geography influences planning policy 2.3 times more than reciprocally, unexpected bridge topics w…
Modelling pandemic-induced shifts in residential location preferences: Insights from a large-scale discrete choice experiment in Chinese cities
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered dynamic shifts in urban residential location preferences, yet individual-level evidence on how these preferences have evolved across different stages remains limited. Using a hypothetical, scenario-based discrete choice experiment with 7318 urban residents in China, this study estimates within-person changes in residential trade-offs across three decision frames: a pre-pandemic baseline (September–November 2019), t…
Does perceived proximity to urban facilities still matter to individuals' daily activities in the information age
An easy access to urban facilities is often assumed as a precondition for frequent uses of these facilities nearby, thus promoting urban vitality and the sustainable mobility transition. However, with increasing popularity of online activities, people have been considerably reducing their dependence on urban facilities in daily life. In this sense, an important question emerges – is perceived proximity to urban facilities still relevant to people…
The transition towards carbon neutrality: Land use policy, resource and energy management modes, and spatial planning options
The built environment and multidimensional poverty: Exploring accessibility as a mediator of spatial opportunity
While research has established links between the built environment and urban poverty, the mechanisms through which spatial opportunities influence multidimensional poverty remain poorly understood. This study examines how accessibility mediates the relationship between spatial opportunity and multidimensional poverty, while accounting for other built environment characteristics. Using household-level data, we applied structural equation modelling…
UrbanClassifier: A deep learning-based model for automated typology and temporal analysis of urban fabric across multiple spatial scales and viewpoints
Unveiling the spatially varied nonlinear effects of urban built environment on housing prices using an interpretable ensemble learning model
Built environment and airbnb spatial distribution in Hong Kong: A case study considering the spatial heterogeneity and multiscale effects
Gravity-based models for evaluating urban park accessibility: Why does localized selection of attractiveness factors and travel modes matter
Gravity-based models have been extensively utilized in urban studies for measuring geographic disparities in access to urban parks over the past several decades. However, despite methodological advancements incorporating various aspects of accessibility, there has been limited focus on the impact of variable selection (e.g., attractiveness factors) and transport modes on accessibility evaluations. This study investigates the differences in gravit…
Unravelling heterogeneity and dynamics of commuting efficiency: Industry-level insights into evolving efficiency gaps based on a disaggregated excess-commuting framework
Transport network changes and varying socioeconomic effects across China's Yangtze River Delta
Newly constructed transport infrastructure may have varying socioeconomic effects across cities and regions. This study employs a spatial equilibrium model to examine how the development of expressways and high-speed rails (HSRs) may induce changes in employed residents, housing rents, and consumer surplus within China's Yangtze River Delta region. Empirical findings indicate limited effects of transport infrastructure in reducing disparities, wh…
The nonlinear influence of land conveyance on urban carbon emissions: An interpretable ensemble learning-based approach
How do urban socio-economic characteristics shape a city's social recovery? An empirical study of Covid-19 shocks in China
A framework for human-computer interactive street network design based on a multi-stage deep learning approach
High-speed rail, new town development, and the spatial mismatch of land leases in China
City Intelligence Quotient Evaluation System Using Crowdsourced Social Media Data: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China
Despite the trending studies on smart city development, how to evaluate the smartness of a city remains unclear. This research aimed to design a smart city evaluation system, named the City Intelligence Quotient (CityIQ) evaluation system, which considers both the hard (e.g., physical infrastructure) and soft sides (e.g., citizens’ perspectives) of smart city development. Based on the two-level structure of the CityIQ evaluation system (i.e., fiv…
Incorporating Planning Intelligence into Deep Learning: A Planning Support Tool for Street Network Design
Deep learning applications in shaping ad hoc planning proposals are limited by the difficulty of integrating professional knowledge about cities with artificial intelligence. We propose a novel, complementary use of deep neural networks and planning guidance to automate street network generation that can be context-aware, learning-based, and user-guided. The model tests suggest that the incorporation of planning knowledge (e.g., road junctions an…
How neighborhood conditions and policy incentives affect relocation outcomes of households from low-income neighborhoods—Evidence from intra-city movement trajectories
Exploring Resilient Observability in Traffic-Monitoring Sensor Networks: A Study of Spatial–Temporal Vehicle Patterns
Vehicle mobility generates dynamic and complex patterns that are associated with our day-to-day activities in cities. To reveal the spatial–temporal complexity of such patterns, digital techniques, such as traffic-monitoring sensors, provide promising data-driven tools for city managers and urban planners. Although a large number of studies have been dedicated to investigating the sensing power of the traffic-monitoring sensors, there is still a …
Understanding urban sub-centers with heterogeneity in agglomeration economies—Where do emerging commercial establishments locate
Understanding heterogeneous spatial production externalities as a missing link between land-use planning and urban economic futures
Land-use planning influences economic performance as it can intervene with location-specific and heterogeneous production externalities. This paper examines the impacts of heterogeneous externalities on local employment growth using a panel model framework with block-level land-use data inventory for Chicago. Cross-industry spillovers provide positive impacts on growth, but the mechanisms behind them differ across sectors and spatial scales. Impr…
Unravelling heterogeneity and dynamics of commuting efficiency: Industry-level insights into evolving efficiency gaps based on a disaggregated excess-commuting framework
How neighborhood conditions and policy incentives affect relocation outcomes of households from low-income neighborhoods—Evidence from intra-city movement trajectories
The nonlinear influence of land conveyance on urban carbon emissions: An interpretable ensemble learning-based approach
High-speed rail, new town development, and the spatial mismatch of land leases in China
The built environment and multidimensional poverty: Exploring accessibility as a mediator of spatial opportunity
While research has established links between the built environment and urban poverty, the mechanisms through which spatial opportunities influence multidimensional poverty remain poorly understood. This study examines how accessibility mediates the relationship between spatial opportunity and multidimensional poverty, while accounting for other built environment characteristics. Using household-level data, we applied structural equation modelling…
Transport network changes and varying socioeconomic effects across China's Yangtze River Delta
Newly constructed transport infrastructure may have varying socioeconomic effects across cities and regions. This study employs a spatial equilibrium model to examine how the development of expressways and high-speed rails (HSRs) may induce changes in employed residents, housing rents, and consumer surplus within China's Yangtze River Delta region. Empirical findings indicate limited effects of transport infrastructure in reducing disparities, wh…
Aspirations and realities of polycentric development: Insights from multi-source data into the emerging urban form of Shanghai
The polycentric idea has recently been reinvigorated in many rapidly urbanising countries, but the paucity of reliable and disaggregated data has so far made it almost impossible to understand the policy feedback there. This paper capitalises on official statistical data, novel online data, and proprietary digital data, and builds a dynamic spatial equilibrium model for understanding the past lessons and future options for developing new urban su…
Understanding urban sub-centers with heterogeneity in agglomeration economies—Where do emerging commercial establishments locate
Exploring Resilient Observability in Traffic-Monitoring Sensor Networks: A Study of Spatial–Temporal Vehicle Patterns
Vehicle mobility generates dynamic and complex patterns that are associated with our day-to-day activities in cities. To reveal the spatial–temporal complexity of such patterns, digital techniques, such as traffic-monitoring sensors, provide promising data-driven tools for city managers and urban planners. Although a large number of studies have been dedicated to investigating the sensing power of the traffic-monitoring sensors, there is still a …
Understanding commuting patterns and changes: Counterfactual analysis in a planning support framework
In order to contain commuting distance growth and relieve traffic burden in mega-city regions, it is essential to understand journey-to-work patterns and changes in those patterns. This research develops a planning support model that integrates increasingly available mobile phone data and conventional statistics into a theoretical urban economic framework to reveal and explain commuting changes. Base-year calibration and cross-year validation wer…
Understanding heterogeneous spatial production externalities as a missing link between land-use planning and urban economic futures
Land-use planning influences economic performance as it can intervene with location-specific and heterogeneous production externalities. This paper examines the impacts of heterogeneous externalities on local employment growth using a panel model framework with block-level land-use data inventory for Chicago. Cross-industry spillovers provide positive impacts on growth, but the mechanisms behind them differ across sectors and spatial scales. Impr…
City Intelligence Quotient Evaluation System Using Crowdsourced Social Media Data: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China
Despite the trending studies on smart city development, how to evaluate the smartness of a city remains unclear. This research aimed to design a smart city evaluation system, named the City Intelligence Quotient (CityIQ) evaluation system, which considers both the hard (e.g., physical infrastructure) and soft sides (e.g., citizens’ perspectives) of smart city development. Based on the two-level structure of the CityIQ evaluation system (i.e., fiv…
Incorporating Planning Intelligence into Deep Learning: A Planning Support Tool for Street Network Design
Deep learning applications in shaping ad hoc planning proposals are limited by the difficulty of integrating professional knowledge about cities with artificial intelligence. We propose a novel, complementary use of deep neural networks and planning guidance to automate street network generation that can be context-aware, learning-based, and user-guided. The model tests suggest that the incorporation of planning knowledge (e.g., road junctions an…
How neighborhood conditions and policy incentives affect relocation outcomes of households from low-income neighborhoods—Evidence from intra-city movement trajectories
A framework for human-computer interactive street network design based on a multi-stage deep learning approach
High-speed rail, new town development, and the spatial mismatch of land leases in China
How do urban socio-economic characteristics shape a city's social recovery? An empirical study of Covid-19 shocks in China
UrbanClassifier: A deep learning-based model for automated typology and temporal analysis of urban fabric across multiple spatial scales and viewpoints
Unveiling the spatially varied nonlinear effects of urban built environment on housing prices using an interpretable ensemble learning model
Built environment and airbnb spatial distribution in Hong Kong: A case study considering the spatial heterogeneity and multiscale effects
Gravity-based models for evaluating urban park accessibility: Why does localized selection of attractiveness factors and travel modes matter
Gravity-based models have been extensively utilized in urban studies for measuring geographic disparities in access to urban parks over the past several decades. However, despite methodological advancements incorporating various aspects of accessibility, there has been limited focus on the impact of variable selection (e.g., attractiveness factors) and transport modes on accessibility evaluations. This study investigates the differences in gravit…
Unravelling heterogeneity and dynamics of commuting efficiency: Industry-level insights into evolving efficiency gaps based on a disaggregated excess-commuting framework
Transport network changes and varying socioeconomic effects across China's Yangtze River Delta
Newly constructed transport infrastructure may have varying socioeconomic effects across cities and regions. This study employs a spatial equilibrium model to examine how the development of expressways and high-speed rails (HSRs) may induce changes in employed residents, housing rents, and consumer surplus within China's Yangtze River Delta region. Empirical findings indicate limited effects of transport infrastructure in reducing disparities, wh…
The nonlinear influence of land conveyance on urban carbon emissions: An interpretable ensemble learning-based approach
Does perceived proximity to urban facilities still matter to individuals' daily activities in the information age
An easy access to urban facilities is often assumed as a precondition for frequent uses of these facilities nearby, thus promoting urban vitality and the sustainable mobility transition. However, with increasing popularity of online activities, people have been considerably reducing their dependence on urban facilities in daily life. In this sense, an important question emerges – is perceived proximity to urban facilities still relevant to people…
The transition towards carbon neutrality: Land use policy, resource and energy management modes, and spatial planning options
The built environment and multidimensional poverty: Exploring accessibility as a mediator of spatial opportunity
While research has established links between the built environment and urban poverty, the mechanisms through which spatial opportunities influence multidimensional poverty remain poorly understood. This study examines how accessibility mediates the relationship between spatial opportunity and multidimensional poverty, while accounting for other built environment characteristics. Using household-level data, we applied structural equation modelling…
Predicting urban futures: Epistemic shifts and the governance of uncertainty
Predicting urban futures has long been central to urban science. This article traces the evolution of urban prediction from structural-equilibrium and process-based models to today’s emerging algorithmic regime. We argue that this shift marks a fundamental epistemic transition from deductive explanation to inductive inference. Examining tensions between explanation, prediction, and policy control, we show that gains in predictive accuracy often c…
The moderating role of ride-hailing in the relationship between metro station proximity and metro use
Llm4gkid: A Multimodal Large Language Model-Driven Framework for Ghost Kitchen Identification
The proliferation of ghost kitchens (i.e., delivery-only restaurants without physical storefronts) poses significant challenges for urban food system monitoring and regulatory oversight. These establishments maintain digital visibility on delivery platforms while eluding visibility in the physical public realm, creating information asymmetries that compromise transparency and consumer protection. This work presents LLM4GKID, a comprehensive appro…
Planning for liveable cities across contexts: A comparative analysis of life satisfaction determinants in Hong Kong and Shenzhen
Creating liveable cities is a central ambition of contemporary urban planning, yet the determinants of urban life satisfaction (a widely recognised indicator of urban liveability) remain contested, particularly across different urban and regional contexts. This study examines the determinants of life satisfaction through a comparative lens, focusing on Hong Kong and Shenzhen, two neighbouring cities that represent distinct urban typologies within…
Geography (13 works) · Urban Transport and Accessibility (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Economic geography (10 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Engineering (8 works) · China (6 works) · Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis (6 works) · Land use (6 works)