Dr Kristen Zhao is an urban researcher and Lecturer in Architecture whose work integrates architectural education, urban research, and spatial analytics. Her teaching is rooted in design studio culture, where she leads and develops research-informed studio briefs that emphasise conceptual clarity, spatial resolution, and critical engagement with urban conditions. Her pedagogy supports students in translating rigorous research - through precedent analysis, literature synthesis, and urban investigation - into coherent design propositions across architecture and urban design programmes.

Dr Zhao is a core member of the Complexity, Planning and Urbanism (CPU) Lab. Her research employs mixed-method approaches to examine urban mobility transitions, urban analytics, and design-led experimentation in cities. She has published widely in leading journals, including Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Journal of Urban Design, Journal of Urban Mobility, Environment and Planning B, and Landscape and Urban Planning. Her research on global street experimentation and tactical urbanism during the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to international scholarship on adaptive, low-cost, and temporary urban interventions. She is currently working on evaluating the safety implications of pandemic-era street interventions and active and public transport transitions in London and Manchester.

Academic background:

  • PhD in Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong
  • Master in Urban Spatial Analytics, University of Pennsylvania
  • Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Teaching

  • MArch 1 Architect in Studio
  • MArch Architect as Researcher
  • MA in Architecture and Urbanism

Research

Reports

Zhao, K., 2026. 'Policy Brief: Improving Street Urban Design Through Co-creation'.

Journal Articles

Zhao, K.J., Sun, G., 2025. 'Beyond temporary measures: How experiential learning in street experiments shapes urban mobility transitions', Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 57.

Zhao, K.J., Chang, R.A., Sun, G., 2025. 'Experiment unlearned: unpacking leadership and learning of key actors in a Hong Kong street experiment', Journal of Urban Mobility, 7.

Zhao, K.J., Sun, G., 2025. 'From push to partnership: evolving public engagement strategies in pandemic-induced street experiments', Journal of Urban Design, 27.

Zhao, J., Sun, G., Webster, C., 2024. 'Global Street Experiment: A Geospatial Database of Pandemic-induced Street Transitions', Landscape and Urban Planning, 242.

Zhao, J., Sun, G., Webster, C., 2022. 'Does China-Pakistan Economic Corridor improve connectivity in Pakistan? A protocol assessing the planned transport network infrastructure', Journal of Transport Geography, 100.

Lu, Y., Zhao, J., Wu, X., Lo, S.M., 2021. 'Escaping to nature during a pandemic: a natural experiment in Asian cities during the COVID-19 pandemic with big social media data', Science of the Total Environment, 777.

Sun, G., Du, Y., Ni, M.Y., Zhao, J., Webster, C., 2021. 'Metro and elderly health in Hong Kong: protocol for a natural experiment study in a high-density city', BMJ Open, 11 (3).

Zhao, J., Sun, G., Webster, C., 2021. 'Walkability scoring: why and how does a three-dimensional pedestrian network matter?', Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48 (8), pp. 2418-2435.

Sun, G., Zhao, J., Webster, C., Lin, H., 2020. 'New metro system and active travel: A natural experiment', Environment International, 138.

Long, Y., Zhao, J., 2020. 'What makes a city bikeable? A study of intercity and intracity patterns of bicycle ridership using mobike big data records', Built Environment, 46 (1), pp. 55-75.