Wenrui Xu 徐文睿(Erik🦁)

👋🦁Hi! I am a first-year Ph.D. student in Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley. I am fortunate to be advised by Prof. Lu Liang (LAEP) and work closely with Prof. Emma Pierson (EECS). I received my M.Arch. from Tsinghua University in 2025 and B.Eng. (Architecture) from Tongji University with the highest distinction in 2023.

My research develops spatial data science and machine learning methods to study how environmental risks, urban environments, and social systems interact to shape inequities, with the goal of supporting more equitable environmental planning and policy. Current directions I am particularly excited about include:

• Environmental Risks & Health: measuring human exposure to and health impacts of heat, air pollution, flooding, wildfire, and compound hazards.

• Urban Environments & Social Systems: spatial perception disparity (Cities, 2025), mobility & air pollution (SCS, 2025), urban renewal, and healthcare networks.

• Geospatial AI & Spatial Measurement: LLM alignment for spatial reasoning and aesthetics (ACL, 2025), LLMs for geospatial applications, and interpretability of foundation models.
  

🔥 News

📖 Selected Publications

Full-text PDFs of all publications are available for download here (Link).
†Equal Contribution, *Corresponding Author

🎓 Education

2025 - Present

University of California, Berkeley
Doctor of Philosophy (Environmental Studies)
Department of Landscape Archi. & Environmental Planning (Link)
Advisor: Dr. Lu Liang

2023 - 2025

Tsinghua University
Master of Architecture (Urban Informatics and Urban Renewal)
School of Architecure (Link)
GPA: 3.93 / 4
Comprehensive Excellence Scholarship
Advisor: Dr. Jinxi Chen

2019 - 2023

Tongji University
Bachelor of Engineering (Architecture and Urban Design)
College of Architecture and Urban Planning (Link)
GPA: 4.89 / 5 (Top 1%)
Distinct Graduate of Shanghai (Top 0.1%, Highest Distinction); National Scholarship
Minor Degree in Finance @ Fudan University

🏙️ Affiliation

2024.09 - Present

Future Intelligence LaB (FIB-Lab), Tsinghua University
Research Assistant
Department of Electronic Engineering (Link)
Advisor: Dr. Chen Gao, Dr. Jie Feng, Dr. Yong Li

2024.10 - 2025.03

Tsinghua Architectural Design & Research Institute
Intern Planner & Architect
Zhejiang Wanli University Yuyao Campus Project

2023.08 - 2024.06

Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning Institute
Intern Architect
Beijing 1st Experimental Primary School Honglian Branch Renewal Project

2021.12 - 2022.02

Kaiyuan Securities Research Institute
Intern Equity Researcher
In-depth Report on the cosmetics industry and BeiTaiNi (SZ.300957) (Link)

🎉 Activities & Services

Conference

• [2025] [Accepted] The 65th Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Annual Conference (ACSP), Minneapolis, US.
• [2025] [Accepted] The 4rd International Conference on Urban Informatics (GSCS & ICUI), Hong Kong, China.
• [2025] [Poster Presentation] The 19th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM), London, UK.
• [2025] [Oral Presentation] The 19th International Association for China Planning Annual Conference (IACP), Xiamen, China.
• [2025] [Oral Presentation] The 32nd International Conference on Geoinformatics (CPGIS), Jiaozuo, China.
• [2025] [Accepted] Extending Knowledge-based View in Generative AI Era. The 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), Copenhagen, Denmark.
• [2025] [Accepted] Architecting Knowledge Ecosystems: How Generative AI Redraws the Boundaries of Competitive Advantage. Strategic Management Society 45th Annual Conference (SMS), San Francisco, US.
• [2025] [Accepted] The 25th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP), Guangzhou, China.
• [2024] [Poster Presentation] Nature Conference on Air Pollution and Climate Change, Beijing, China.

Academic Services

Peer Reviewer:

• [Journal] GIScience & Remote Sensing(1); Cities(1); Building and Environment(4); Computational Urban Science(4); Architectural Engineering and Design Management(1)
• [Conference] ICLR 2025

Organization

• [2022.01-Present] Student member of the Architectural Society of China.
• [2023.12-Present] Volunteer in Citipedia (the #1 volunteer group in promoting sustainable city and transportation in China.
• [2022.09-2024.08] Committee member of the Student Branch, Architectural Society of China.
• [2021.10-2022.11] Leader of the Students’ Union of College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University.
• [2021.07-2022.08] Leader of the “Dream Classroom” voluntary teaching & design & construction project (Tibet Lhatse Middle School and Xinjiang Huocheng Middle School), Tongji University.

Teaching

• [Tsinghua University] Undergraduate Dissertation Design Studio: 2023 Fall, 2024 Spring, 2024 Fall, 2025 Spring (TA).
• [Tsinghua University] Urban Design Elements: 2023 Fall (TA).

🏆 Selected Awards

Honors & Scholarships

• [2024] Comprehensive Excellence Scholarship: Awarded by Tsinghua University.
• [2023] Distinct Graduate of Shanghai: Graduation with the highest distinction (Top 0.1%).
• [2022] The First Prize Undergraduate Scholarship: Awarded by Tongji University.
• [2021] The First Prize Undergraduate Scholarship: Awarded by Tongji University.
• [2021] Outstanding Student Model: Top 7/4300+ undergraduates at Tongji University.
• [2020] National Scholarship: Highest honor for undergraduate (Top 1%).

Competitions

• [2022] Exhibition of Architectural Design in Developing Countries: Bronze Award.
• [2021] National Real Estate Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition: Top Prize.
• [2021] National Computer Design Competition for College Students: Second Prize (Top 1294/100,000+).
• [2020] National English Competition for College Students: Top Prize (Top 23/43000+).
• [2018] China High School Mathematics League: Second Prize in Anhui (Top 681/60,000+).

🪪 Certificates & Skills

• Language: English (GRE 336, CET-6 684); Japanese (N5); Chinese (Native)
• To be updated

🎾 Misc

• I love the 90s Alternative Rock, Britpop, Citypop, and Classicals (especially in the Impressionism Era). My favorite contemporary artists include: Blur, Big Thief, Radiohead, 万能青年旅店, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, My Bloody Valentine, My Little Airport, Cheer Chen, Coldplay… So hard to name them all! Here are my collections on RateYourMusic or Douban!
• I watch about 200+ movies each year. Movies let us live three times more lives. We can talk on Letterboxd or Douban! My favorite directors are Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen, David Fincher, Sofia Coppola… My life movie is “The Lord of The Rings”, “Yi Yi” by Edward Yang, and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. My favorite TV by now is “ロングバケーション”(Long Vacation).
• Unfortunately I don’t have time to read as many books each year, but I’d love to get any recommendations on Goodreads or Douban!
• I enjoy “city walking” and photography. You can find my photos in my blogs and on 500px.
• I am so addicted to tennis. I was a member of the Tsinghua School of Architecture Tennis Team. I’ve been learning piano since 22 (I can play Chopin’s Waltz in A Minor now! Hope I can play Debussy’s La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin and Liszt’s Liebesträume one day!).🎾🎹
• I am a “No spicy, no joy” person, and my “spiritual hometown” is Sichuan.😈
• My nickname is ruarua or rua.😁

📫 Contact

I am always excited to meet fellow researchers with shared interests!
Please feel free to contact me via Email or WeChat.

• Email: wenruixu(at)outlook(dot)com
• WeChat: ruaruaxu

© Wenrui Xu. Last updated: Feb 2026. Powered by Jekyll Minimal Light theme.