Wei Yang (urban designer)

Wei Yang (Chinese: 杨威) was born in Beijing. She studied urban planning at Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology gaining a bachelor's degree in 1996. Between 1996 and 1997, she volunteered in Chinese vernacular architecture Research Group led by renowned architectural historian and Tsinghua University professor Chen Zhihua.

From 1999 to 2005, Yang studied at the University of Sheffield,[9] and obtained a master of science degree in 2001 and a doctor of philosophy degree in 2005 from the School of Architecture. Her PhD research[10] was part of an EU-funded project: Rediscovering the Urban Realm and Open Spaces (RUROS).[11]

In 2004, while writing up her PhD thesis, Yang pursued her planning career in Britain in a Milton Keynes based planning practice David Lock Associates. In 2011, she founded Wei Yang & Partners[12] in London, which provides integrated master planning solutions and promotes best practices worldwide. In particular, the practice supports and fosters knowledge transfer between practice and research.[13]

In 2011, Yang initiated self-funded research on 21st Century Garden City, which captures the essence of the original Garden City ideas, but adapts them to a more complex, 21st century context, promoting sustainability, tackling climate change and utilising smart technologies. The initiative was well ahead of the UK government's Garden City Proposal in 2014.[14] The research had led to the success of Wei Yang & Partners in winning the Wolfson Economics Finalist Prize in 2014.[15] The competition final submission, New Garden Cities: Visionary, Economically Viable and Popular[16] was referred to in The Lyons Housing Review: Mobilising Across the Nation to Build the Homes our Children Need.[17] In the field of practical work, Wei Yang & Partners have delivered many master planning projects in the UK and China utilising 21st Century Garden City approach.[18]

Yang is also a key figure in promoting green & low-carbon development approach in China. From 2013 to 2016, she served as the Co-chair[19] of the UK-China Eco-Cities & Green Building Group.[20] Between 2013 and 2014, she was seconded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as British Principal Planning Expert to advise the Chinese Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD) on sustainable urbanisation. She also gave expert advice to Progressing Eco-City Policies into Mainstream Practice in China project[21] in 2012, and ‘the Europe-China Eco-Cities Link (EC-Link)’ project[22] in 2013. From 2015 to 2017, she led the UK-China pilot project on ‘the Green & Low-Carbon Development of Small Towns in China’,[23] and was the lead author of The Technical Manual for Green & Low-Carbon Development of Small Towns in China[24]

In 2014, Yang was elected as a World Cities Summit Young Leader[25] by Singapore, and was named as the Planner's Women of Influence in 2017,[26] 2018.[27]

In 2017, recognising her innovative work and actions in promoting joined up thinking between different built environment professionals[3], she was conferred as a Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS). In 2018, she was conferred as a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).[2] In May 2019, she was appointed as a Board Member of the British Library by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport[13]

In September 2019, Yang was elected by the RTPI members as the RTPI's Vice President for 2020. She will lead the Institute as President in 2021.[5] In her Manifesto, she states that ‘I believe the fundamental objective of the planning profession is to create a balanced system for People, Nature and Society to co-exist in harmony, I want to champion a revival of spirit for our profession by enhancing public appreciation, strengthening international collaboration on capacity building, and contributing to immediate actions on the climate and biodiversity emergency. I am also keen to do more to engage young planners and adopt new technologies to empower the modernisation.’[4]

• Chairman, Wei Yang & Partners[1]
• Vice President, the Royal Town Planning Institute[28]
• Board Member, the British Library[6]
• Board Trustee, the Landscape Institute[7]
• Board Trustee, Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre[8]

• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), elected in 2017[3]
• Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), elected in 2018[2] (Member of RTPI since 2012)
• Member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), elected in 2009
• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Client Adviser,[29] appointed in 2011
• Academician of the Academy of Urbanism (AOU), appointed in 2009

• CABE Enabler (2009–2011)
• Member of the Editorial Advisory Panel of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Urban Design and Planning[30] (2011–2014)
• Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute Membership Panel (2012–2016)
• Co-Chair of the UK-China Eco-Cities & Green Building Group (2013–2016)
• Vice-Chair of the Royal Town Planning Institute International Committee (2017–2019)