Dr. Bing Chen ( 陈冰 ) is Senior Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Design at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) Design School. He is a researcher, designer, and educator in the fields of Architecture and Urban & Rural Planning. Currently he serves the role of Head of Department of Urban Planning and Design.

Bing holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Sheffield, UK. His research interests focus on ‘sustainable planning/design strategies (for urban regeneration & rural revitalization)’, ‘evidence-based design for healthcare environment’, ‘ageing and community’, ‘building environmental assessment methods’, and ‘education for sustainable development’. He has been involved in several interdisciplinary studies including research projects funded by EPSRC, AHRC, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province and other funding bodies.

Bing is a Chartered Architect of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and a Chartered Rural Designer for Characteristic Countryside in Suzhou, China. His design philosophy is developed through an iterative process of Research-Design-New Research-New (or Re-) Design, where he uses research to inform design and decision-making and uses design as an exploratory instrument for research. He has been invited to spread ideas in TEDxSuzhou, and the City Lecture series.

As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Bing has devoted himself to promoting research-led education. He has received 10+ awards on innovative teaching and supporting learning, including the First Prize of Annual Teaching Innovation at 2017 XJTLU National University Teaching Innovation Award. Working as a Research Fellow and Trainer of Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development (ILEAD) at XJTLU, Bing has delivered 200+ speeches/workshops on research-led learning and teaching to more than 7000 faculty members from 150+ universities in China.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2273-4104

Public Talks:

• on Education (仰望星空 Shooting for the Moon):  
• on Urban Design (再设计我们的城市 Re-Design Our Cities): 
• on Rural Revitalization (城市课堂：我的美丽乡村 & 西浦未来学习中心名师讲座—乡村振兴的西浦实践探索）: 

He'd like to welcome self-motivated PhD applicants who are interested to the below Research Interests. Please contact Bing.Chen@xjtlu.edu.cn for further information.

陈冰，（英）谢菲尔德大学建筑学博士、博士后，英国皇家特许建筑师（RIBA）、英国高等教育学会资深会士（SFHEA）。现任西交利物浦大学设计学院高级副教授、博士生导师，城市规划与设计系系主任。同时兼民盟苏州市第十四届委员会高等教育工作委员会副主任、苏州市特色田园乡村设计师、西交利物浦大学领导与教育前沿研究院研究员和培训专家等。目前已在《建筑学报》、《城市规划》、《中国园林》、《Journal of Building Engineering》等国内外期刊上发表论文60余篇，出版著作4部。

课题组招博士研究生，欢迎邮件咨询 bing.chen@xjtlu.edu.cn 获取更多相关信息。目前课题组已有3名博士生顺利毕业。

Call for articles: 'Urban Regeneration and a Sustainable Built Environment' with Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering. Submission deadline: 31 May 2025.

• Sustainable Planning/Design Strategies (可持续规划与设计策略): Bing has contributed to several transdisciplinary studies in this field including: Sustainable and Creative Villages Research Network - SW China funded by AHRC (focusing on sustainable planning/design strategies for rural revitalization), ‘Carbon Reduction in Buildings (CaRB)’ funded by EPSRC and Carbon Trust (a socio-technical, longitudinal study of carbon emissions in buildings), and ‘Closing the Loop’ funded by Sustainable Construction iNET (using Immersive Virtual Reality Techniques (IVRT) to support the participatory design process for sustainable architecture). The Routledge book, 'Australia and China Perspectives on Urban Regeneration and Rural Revitalization', collects critical views on important contemporary issues and the corresponding planning and design interventions through relevant case studies and research in China and Australia from a broad selection of international experts, young scholars and established academics.
• Evidence-Based Design for Healthcare Environment (医养环境循证设计): The Springer book, ‘Sustainability and Evidence-Based Design in the Healthcare Estate’, looks at design approaches/strategies (e.g. design for sustainability, evidence-based design and post-project evaluation) based on worldwide case studies and thereby identify policies, mechanisms and strategies that can nurture an integrated learning environment that supports innovation in health care. It is based on an EPSRC funded research project at the University of Sheffield, ‘Nurturing an Evidence-Based Learning Environment which supports the Innovative Design of Healthcare Facilities or similar (Acronym EBLE)’, and a follow-up research funded by XJTLU Research Development Fund. Now this book has been translated into Chinese 《医院建筑的可持续与循证设计》 and been published by 中国建筑工业出版社.
• Ageing and Community (老年友好社区): As the then Deputy Director of Research Institute on Ageing and Society, Bing intends to explore planning and design strategies that can support healthy ageing-in-place, using research-by-design as an exploratory instrument. Recently his team has successfully completed a design consulting project on landscape-led micro-retrofit of existing communities commissioned by Wujiang Taihu New Town Construction Bureau. Some initial ideas about age-friendly communities have been discussed in and disseminated via the book 《社区花园的吴江实验》('Community Garden Experiment in Wujiang').
• Built Environmental Assessment Methods (建筑环境评估方法): Bing’s PhD thesis at the University of Sheffield, titled as 'A communication platform to facilitate knowledge transfer between different stakeholder groups in sustainable student accommodation design', looks at latent issues (e.g. people’s knowledge, motives and values) related to energy saving and carbon dioxide reductions in the whole life cycle of buildings from a socio-technical perspective, focusing on the operational phase of building occupation in particular. It explores the priority variances between different stakeholder groups with regard to their sustainability concerns.
• Education for Sustainable Development (可持续发展教育): This pedagogic theme aims to, by rethinking teaching-research nexus, nurture an active learning environment to inspire learners to act for sustainability. It also intends to promote a learner-centred research-led innovative teaching approach that can facilitate exploratory, action-oriented and transformative learning.

I'd like to welcome self-motivated PhD applicants who are interested to the above areas. Please contact me for further information via Bing.Chen@xjtlu.edu.cn.

• Head, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) - 2023 to Present
• Senior Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) - 2022 to Present
• Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) - 2016 to 2022
• Programme Director of MSc Urban Planning, XJTLU Department of Urban Planning and Design - 2018 to 2021
• Deputy Director, XJTLU Research Institute on Ageing and Society (RIAS) - 2016 to 2018
• Lecturer/Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University - 2011 to 2016
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield - 2010 to 2011
• Postdoctoral Research Assistant, School of Architecture, University of Lincoln - 2009 to 2010
• Postgraduate Research/Teaching Assistant, School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield - 2005 to 2009
• Architect, Shanghai Asian Architectural Design Co. LTD - 2002 to 2003
• Architectural Assistant, Beijing Western Shanghai Design Co. - 2001 to 2002

• UPD101 Issues and Practice of Planning in China I
• UPD211 Urban Design and Theory I 
• UPD208 Spatial Design and the Built Environment II 
• UPD305 Final Year Project and Dissertation
• UPD306 Urban Design Project 
• UPD409 Dissertation
• UPDCDE002 Introduction to Urban Planning and Design
• UPDCDE101 Issues and Practice of Planning in China I
• UPDCDE106 Issues and Practice of Planning in China II
• UPDCDE108 Skills for Planning Practice
• UPDCDE201 Environmental Sustainability
• UPDCDE202 Rural Planning
• UPDCDE207 Spatial Design and the Built Environment I
• UPDCDE208 Spatial Design and the Built Environment II
• UPDCDE305 Final Year Project and Dissertation
• UPDCDE311 Planning and Property Development
• UPDCDE402 Sustainable Urban Planning Strategies
• UPDCDE409 Dissertation

• 2023: 3rd Prize of Outstanding Achievement Award from Jiangsu Soceity of Digital Economy (江苏省数字经济学会优秀成果奖“三等奖”, with Dr. Puyue Gong (PI) & Dr. Cheng Zhang from XJTLU, Dr. Qichao Ban from Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Dr. Stravoravdis Spyridon & Prof Stephen Sharples from UoL, and Dr. Yuanzhi Cai and Dr. Hong Huang from XJTLU), Jiangsu Society of Digital Economy
• 2022 2024: 2nd Prize of the 2nd & 4th Guizhou Provincial College Teachers Teaching Innovation Competition (with Ms. Yuan Xiong (PI), Ms. Xuelu Tan, and Ms. Lin He from Guizhou Minzu University), Guizhou Higher Education Association.
• 2021: ‘Excellent Advisor Award’ for the 4th XJTLU Student Competition for research-led Learning, XJTLU ILEAD
• 2020: 3rd Prize of the 11th Yuanye Awards International Competition (第十一届园冶杯大学生国际竞赛“三等奖”， 指导老师), Yuanye Awards Organising Committee Asian Landscape Architecture Society
• 2020: Excellent Supervisor Award of the 18th Annual Asian Design Award (第十八届亚洲设计学年奖“优秀指导老师”), Organising Committee for the 18th Anniversary Asian Design Award Asia Architecture and Urbanism Alliance
• 2020: 2nd Prize of the Education and Teaching Achievements Award of Suzhou (Higher Education) (苏州市教育教学成果奖高等教育类“二等奖”), Suzhou Bureau of Education
• 2020-2023: Principal Trainer at the Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development (ILEAD), XJTLU
• 2018: Annual XJTLU Learning and Teaching Award for the Outstanding Teacher. Xi’an Jiaotong- Liverpool University
• 2018: 2nd Prize at the 1st Sino-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools Teaching Innovation Award, China Education Association for International Exchange
• 2017: Annual Innovative Teaching Prize, XJTLU National University Teaching Innovation Award, XJTLU Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development
• 2017: EU Erasmus+ Higher Education Staff Mobility, European Commission
• 2012 2016: Best Paper Award, National Steering Committee of Urban and Rural Planning Education in China (全国高等学校城乡规划学科年会优秀教研论文)
• 2014 2015: 2nd Prize - Best Paper Award, Jiangsu Association of Philosophy and Social Science
• 2015: Commended Work, National Steering Committee of Urban and Rural Planning Education in China
• 2014: Innovative Teaching Practices (Highly Commended), Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University
• 2012: 3rd Prize of the 11th Award of Excellent Achievement of Philosophy and Social Science of Suzhou (苏州市第十一次哲学社会科学优秀成果三等奖)
• 2012: Best Paper Award, Architectural Society of China (中国建筑学会年会优秀论文)
• 2006-2007 , The Great Britain-China Educational Trust
• 2004-2007, PhD scholarship, The University of Sheffield