Dr Wei Yang
Chairman
FAcSS, FRTPI, MCIHT, RIBA CLIENT ADVISER
Dr Wei Yang is an internationally renowned town planner and urban designer who champions a place-based, whole-systems approach to tackle the grand challenges of our time. She is an influential thought leader and a powerful advocate for climate action, nature-based solutions, health and well-being, and social equality. Wei was named a Net Zero Hero by Digital Leaders in 2022.
Wei has extensive experience in leading multidisciplinary teams and implementing large-scale regeneration and low-carbon master planning projects in Britain and internationally. Her professional strength lies in combining innovative planning inspiration with feasible implementation solutions. She is also a popular keynote speaker, author, and scholar.
Wei was President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in 2021 and an independent trustee of the Landscape Institute (LI). She champions a revival of spirit and a modernised planning profession to tackle global challenges in a systematic way and achieve collective well-being and fulfilment for all.
Wei is a leading figure in researching, promoting, and implementing 21st-century garden city and green and low-carbon development approaches worldwide. She is a co-author of the bestselling book, "Humanistic Pure Land and Garden Cities" (Shi & Yang, 2021).
Wei is a co-founder and CEO of the Digital Task Force for Planning, a not-for-profit social enterprise with a mission to unlock the full potential of spatial planning in the digital era. Wei co-authored "A Digital Future for Planning – Spatial Planning Reimagined" (Batty & Yang, 2022), which outlines a blueprint for the digital transformation of spatial planning and the sector's future.
Through her leadership in various areas, Wei builds a bridge between research, development, and policy via her understanding of and belief in the full potential of spatial planning as a pivotal applied science discipline. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the RTPI, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Highway and Transportation (CIHT), a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Client Advisor, and an Honorary Professor at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London.
Wei also holds a number of board-level and advisory roles across different sectors. Currently, she is Chair of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), a board member of the British Library and Chair of its Capital Portfolio Committee, a Global Planner Networks (GPN) representative at the UN Habitat Professional Forum, and a Professionals Co-Chair of the UN Habitat World Urban Campaign Steering Committee.
