School of Public Administration and Policy - Renmin University of China

Yimin Zhao Assistant professor
Department	E-mail
Department of urban planning and management	zhao.y@ruc.edu.cn
Office	Tel
422B, Qiushi Building	+86 (0)10 82502309

Education Experience

2012.10-2017.10, PhD in Human Geography and Urban Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
2009.09-2011.07, MSc in Urban and Regional Economics, Peking University, Beijing, China
2005.09-2009.07, BA in Urban and Regional Management (Yuanpei College), Peking University, Beijing, China

Work Experience

2018.09 to present, Assistant Professor, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
2017.11-2018.08, Research Associate, Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

Part time Job

Associate, LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
Member of the American Association of Geographers
Member of Urban Affairs Association

Peer reviewer: Asian Geographer, City, Current Issues in Tourism, Environment and Urbanization (Asia), International Development Planning Review, Journal of Urban Management, Land Use Policy, Modern China, Planning Perspectives, Urban Affairs Review, Sociological Studies (社会学研究), Sociological Review of China (社会学评论)

Book reviewer: Economic Geography, Journal of Urban Affairs

Courses

Politics of the urban (Undergraduate, 2020 Spring)
Urban development and politics (MSc, 2020 Spring)
Regional development and urban governance (MPA, 2018 and 2019 Fall)
Urban governance: Global and comparative reﬂections (MSc, in English, 2020 Fall)
Research design and academic writing (Undergraduate, 2019 and 2020 Spring)
Qualitative research methods (PhD, 2019 Fall)

Research Expertise

My research focuses on socio-spatial processes of urban change, attending particularly to the role of the state in politico-economic dynamics of urban land and environment. Trained as a Human Geographer, I adopt mixed research methods (urban ethnography in particular) to understand microphysics of power relations and state processes in the everyday life, so as to uncover the logics of urban/environmental politics and their socio-spatial effects.

Keywords: Critical urban theory; Urban political economy; Urban and land politics; Space and power; Urban ethnography

Selected Publications

2020. “ Whither progressive urban futures? Critical reflections on the politics of temporality in Asia” (with Hyun Bang Shin and Sin Yee Koh). CITY: Analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2020.1739925 (online first)
2019. “Regional Development” (wtih Xingjian Liu). In A. M. Orum (ed.) The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Urban and Regional Studies, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
2018. “Anti-urbanism and the genealogy of China’s control of urban population” (“‘反城市主义’与城市⼈口调控的谱系”). Urban Governance Studies (城市治理研究), Vol. 3, 95-119.
2018. “Urbanism as a state project: Lessons from Beijing’s green belts” (with Hyun Bang Shin). In M. Jayne (ed.) Chinese Urbanism: Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 30-46
2017. “Second-hand space: Unthinking the Quito Papers” (“⼆⼿空间：否思《基多宣⾔》”). Dushu Journal (读书杂志), 2017(12), 3-10.
2017. “Space as method: Field sites and encounters in Beijing’s green belts.” CITY: Analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, 21(2), 190-206. DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2017.1353342

Personal website: https://www.readcities.com/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xM8tRdUAAAAJ