Research Overture | Resource-Efficient Urban Intensification

Resource-Efficient Urban Intensification

What kinds of spatial organisation of cities can intensify social interaction and how can this organisation minimise the use of resources at the same time? This project focuses on socio-spatial interactions between individuals and population groups as a key aspect of urban vitality. Social interactions are regarded to enhance the socio-economic as well as cultural quality of life for its residents. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, we aim to find optimal distributions of urban functions that enhance socio-spatial interactions in densely populated areas. Based on individual travel distances, the resource efficiency of typical places of interaction can be inferred, giving insight into how cities could become more efficient in this regards as a whole.

Presenters

Dr Dong Tianyu is currently serving as a Postdoctoral Researcher at SEC. Prior to joining SEC, she held a position as a research fellow at NTU. Holding a PhD in Transportation from NTU, her expertise lies in intelligent transportation systems and urban big data analysis. With a diverse interdisciplinary background in computer science and information engineering, Dr. Tianyu brings a unique perspective to her research
endeavors. She is deeply committed to optimizing urban mobility through the application of innovative technologies and data analytics. Driven by a passion for contributing to smarter, more sustainable cities, she actively seeks to bridge the gap between research and real-world implementation.

Dr Einar Kjenstad joined the Singapore ETH Centre (SEC) Future Cities Laboratory Global in October 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher in urban quantitative and theoretical economics. As a member of the research module Resource-Efficient Urban Intensification, he is focusing on economic modeling in the context of quantitative spatial models and their applications to internal city structure. Einar previously taught at Aarhus University, after graduating with a PhD in Finance from the Simon Business School, University of Rochester.

Dr Weijing Wang joined the FCL Global in September 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher and holds a PhD in Landscape Architecture from the University of Edinburgh, UK. Her research interests are in landscape perception, big data, spatio-temporal social practice, and human-environment interaction. She is particularly interested in investigating the interdisciplinary framework to understand the relationship between well-being, digital technology, and design. Her current work focuses on the study of urban vitality and vibrancy in the context of urban intensification.