Sun Sheng Han-IACP Faculty Highlights

Professor Sun Sheng Han, Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne

Short biography

Sun Sheng Han (韩笋生) is Professor of Urban Planning at the Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, the University of Melbourne. He received his degrees of B.Eng. (1983) in Landscape Architecture from Tongji University, Shanghai, China; M.Sc. (1987) in Urban Planning from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; and Ph.D. (1994) in Urban and Regional Studies from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada. In his career, Professor Han practiced urban planning in the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (1983-1988); taught at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia (1989-1995) in the roles of teaching assistant and lecturer; and researched in the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (1996) as a UN Fellow. He was a tenured associate professor at the School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (1996-2007), before relocating to Melbourne in mid-2007. In addition to teaching and research, Professor Han led the Urban Planning Program at the University of Melbourne as Head of the program in 2008, and again in 2012-2015.

Research

Professor Han’s research and teaching expertise are in the areas of urban and regional development, strategic planning and analytical methods in urban studies. He has been working on a research agenda which links theories of the spatial organization of urban activities with the dynamics of institutional and economic restructuring in the Asia-Pacific region, supported by research grants from national and international funding agencies (Australian Research Council; National Natural Foundation of China; Asia-Pacific Network for Climate Change Research; Volvo Research and Education Foundation), industrial sponsors (EM Services Singapore; Arup Hong Kong), and universities (National University of Singapore and the University of Melbourne). Professor Han’s publications have contributed to addressing many urban and regional questions in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, and to the understanding of the urban spatial restructuring processes, issues and outcomes in China. His works have received recognition internationally and he has been invited to serve as a consultant to the United Nations, national and local governments and private organizations; as a reviewer to funding agencies, universities, publishers, and academic journals; and as an external examiner to PhD examinations. Professor Han is a member of the Editorial Board in Progress in Planning (UK), GeoJournal (the Netherlands), Urban Planning International (China), and the Journal of Urban and Regional Planning (China).

Professor Han’s most recent books include Towards Low Carbon Cities (Leading editor, Routledge 2015), Population Mobility, Urban Planning and Management in China (Co-editor, Springer 2015), and Essays on Healthy Future Cities (Editor, China Architecture Industry Press, in print). He is currently working with professors from the University of Melbourne and five Chinese universities (Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Nanjing University, Tongji University and Chan’an University) on a strategic project entitled the Australia/China Research Network on Planning Global City-Regions. This project develops a research consortium and advances knowledge of the rapidly emerging global city-regions in strategic locations in Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Europe, and Africa.

Contact Information

Email: sshan@unimelb.edu.au
Personal website: http://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person27509