Dr. Xiaofan Liang

Biography

Xiaofan Liang is an Assistant Professor of Urban Regional Planning at the Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. His research focuses on fostering inclusive urban networks and enabling participatory and collaborative planning processes through urban analytics. He draws inspiration from network science, complex systems, and critical as well as participatory approaches, grounding his work in the pursuit of a diverse, equitable, and sustainable networked society. Liang's current projects explore themes such as examining network infrastructure, including transportation and social infrastructure, and how they can be simultaneously inclusive and exclusive, offering connectivity and access to various populations and places while addressing marginalization. He also investigates data, technology, and AI's potential to support and transform participatory practices in planning. His works have been published in top-tier journals such as the Journal of Planning Education and Research and Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. Liang earned his Master's and PhD in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology (2019-2023) and holds a B.S. in Computational Science from Minerva University (2015-2019) and a B.A. in Sociology from UC-Berkeley (2013-2015).

Research Interests

Courses