Research direction: Urban design, Theory and design of urban planning

Gao Yuan, a nationally registered urban planner, serves on the Academic Committee on Urban Design of both the Urban Planning Society of China and the Architectural Society of China. Her research focuses on urban design, with particular emphasis on landscape-sensitive urban environments, including urban vertical order, hillside, and waterfront areas. It seeks to develop design theories and planning approaches that support more refined urban planning and development management. Her teaching complements this research through course development, textbook authorship, and graduate supervision.

In teaching, she led the development of the undergraduate course Research and Investigation on Urban and Rural Society, which was recognized as a National First-Class Undergraduate Course. She is also a core member of the “Huang Danian-style Teacher Team” (Urban Design) and the Political Education Demonstration Teaching Team, both recognized by the Ministry of Education of China. In addition, she is a principal contributor to Urban Design, a national-level textbook for the urban planning discipline.

Her research examines how detailed spatial planning and design advance urban renewal and quality enhancement by integrating physical design, environmental perception, and development mechanisms. Through long-term investigations of landscape-sensitive urban objects and environments, she has advanced the understanding of spatial characteristics and perceptual patterns, and developed analytical frameworks, control methods, and indicator systems to support more refined planning and development management. She has led or participated in five projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, authored two books, published more than 40 academic papers, and received the Second Prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award from the Ministry of Education of China. She has contributed chapters on urban design related to several national reference works, including The Encyclopedia of China.  As the project leader or principal investigator, she has completed more than 30 major urban planning and design projects in Xiong'an, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and other cities, many of which have informed urban renewal practice and received national or provincial awards.