Dr. Yitian Ren (任一田) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU); Associate Researcher of XJTLU; and Honorary Associate at The University of Liverpool.

Dr Ren has cross-disciplinary education trajectory in relation to sustainable built environment. She obtained the BEng in construction management and real estate and MSc in mangement science and engineering from Chongqing University, and PhD in Planning and Environmental Management from The University of Manchester with full Scholarship and has won the prestigious Manchester Doctoral College (MDC) Excellence Award.

Dr Ren’s research has been rooted in the field of urbanisation, urban (re)development, rural restructuring, digital development, entrepreneurial development, and sustainable built environment. Her research works have appeared in the top journals in the field such as Cities, Sustainable Cities and Society, Land Use Policy, Habitat International, and Scientific Data (Nature Portfolio). Dr Ren's research works have achieved the Google Scholar citation 1900+, H-index 27 by May 2025. Dr Ren has been named a 2024 Top Scholar by ScholarGPS: #22 in Carrying Capcity (Lifetime) and #57 in Impact Assessment (Prior 5 years). 

Dr Ren is Member of ICARDC Network on Agriculture and Rural Development in China and CRIOCM Chinese Research Institute of Construction Management, Committee Member of Economic Geography Committee of Jiangsu Geographical Society, and Guest Research Fellow of Alibaba Research Centre for Rural Dynamics.

Dr Ren serves as the Assistant Editor of Journal of Urban Management (SCI, JCR Q1, TOP 8 in Urban Studies); Editorial Board Member of Springer Nature Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (SSCI, JCR Q1); and invited reviewer for over 30 international journals such as Sustainable Cities and Society; Cities; Habitat International; Technology in Society; Technological Forecasting & Social Change; Journal of Environmental Management; Transportation; Applied Energy; Applied Geography; Landscape and Urban Planning; Technovation.    

Office Hour: Wednesday 12-1pm by email appointment.

Call for Papers: Special Issue at Journal of Urban Management

"Urban transition approaches and pathways towards sustainable and smart urban future"

Guest Editors: Dr Yitian Ren, Dr Bing Chen, Prof Wu Deng, Prof Marc Aurel Schnabel, Prof Yu Song.

Urban sustainability: Monitoring and assessment of urban sustainability performance; investigation upon the urban carrying capacity under the pursuit of sustainable development; healthy city; low-carbon transition at community and city scales.  

Urban (re)development: Theoretical understanding, decision-making of urban regeneration and renewal, and its consequences upon urban fabrics and social welfare.

Smart city development: Development trajectory, stakeholders interaction, and governance of smart city practices. The making of “platform urbanism” and its impacts on urban society. 

Urban-rural linkages, rural restructuring and rural studies: Theories and strategies of rural revitalisation/development, including digital platforms/ platform economy driven approach; subsequent impacts upon rural restructuring and urban-rural relationship. The roles and development of small towns in shaping a sustainable urban-rural future. 

2024- Present. Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Associate Researcher of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Honorary associate with the University of Liverpool

UPD Student Staff Liase Committee Co-Chair (2025-)

Department Student Affairs Officer (2025-)

Department Work Placement Officer (2024-)

2019-2023. Doctoral Researcher, Manchester Urban Institute & Centre for Digital Development, The University of Manchester.

PhD Project "E-commerce, rural entrepreneurialism, and restructuring of rural society in Western China"

PGR Representative, Faculty PGR Committee Board Member (Representative for over 400 PGRs of School of Environment, Education and Development) 

2021-2024. Research Assistant to two UoM-funded projects, Department of Planning and Environmental Management, Manchester Urban Institute, The University of Manchester.

"Reuse of long-term brownfield land in Greater Manchester"

"How do changes in consumer behaviour affect the retail property performance? Evidence from global retail real estate companies"

2022-2025. Guest Research Fellow, Alibaba Research Centre for Rural Dynamics.

2020-2024. Teaching Assistant to Undergraduate and Postgraduate modules (including MSc Dissertation), Department of Planning and Environmental Management, Manchester Urban Institute, The University of Manchester.

2018. Research Assistant, Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

2016-2019. Key research member of three National Social Science Foundation (NSSF) Projects, International Research Centre for Sustainable Built Environment, Chongqing University.

"Diagnosis on the sustainable development level of mountainous small towns in Southwest China" (NSSF General Project, 150,000 RMB)

"Evaluation and policy instruments on the resource environment carrying capacity of large Chinese cities in the big data era" (NSSF Major Project, 800,000 RMB)

"Research on the indicator system for the development of low-carbon city" (NSSF Key Project, 300,000 RMB)

at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University:

UPD 101 Issues and practice of planning in China Ⅰ

DES 004 Future Cities

UPD 311 Planning and Property Development

Final Year Project (FYP) Supervision of Year-4 students

Final Year Project (FYP) Workshop for Year-4 students

Master Dissertation Supervision

Academic Advisor to Undergraduate Students

at University of Manchester:

International Planning: Systems and Frameworks 

Infrastructure Planning 

International Fieldtrip (Ruhr Region, Germany) 

Rural Planning 

MSc Dissertation in Planning; MSc Dissertation in Real Estate

2024 Top Scholar by ScholarGPS: #22 in Carrying Capcity (Lifetime) and #57 in Impact Assessment (Prior 5 years)

2024 Second Prize Best Paper, Annual Conference of Urban Transformation and Innovation Research, China Society of Urban Science 中国城市科学研究会城市转型与创新研究专委会2024年会 最佳论文二等奖

As of 10/2024, Dimensional-perspective based low carbon city analysis article, designated as ESI Highly Cited Paper, Web of Science - ranked among the top 1% most cited research article in the field of Social Sciences General（ESI前1%高被引论文）

As of 08/2024, Land resources carrying capacity article, designated as ESI Highly Cited Paper, Web of Science - ranked among the top 1% most cited research article in the field of Social Sciences General（ESI前1%高被引论文）

Manchester Doctoral College (MDC) Excellence Award - Best Contribution to PGR Environment (Only awardee of University of Manchester in 2023)

School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) Postgraduate Research Scholarship of University of Manchester

Merit Paper Award in the CRIOCM 24th International Conference on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate

The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF Fellow) 笹川良一优秀青年奖学基金 

Research Training Bursary from methods@manchester

Excellent Master Dissertation Award of Chongqing Municipality 

Excellent Master Graduate of Higher Education of Chongqing Municipality

Best Paper Award in the CRIOCM 23rd International Conference on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate

National Scholarship Award for Postgraduate by Chinese Ministry of Education 国家奖学金(硕士)

Delegate of 7th University Scholars Leadership Symposium, Humanitarian Affairs Asia.

Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Fund Award, The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

Merit Award, The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Global Student Challenge.

National Scholarship Award for Undergraduate by Chinese Ministry of Education 国家奖学金(本科)