Dr Yu Chen

School of East Asian Studies

Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies

yu.chen@sheffield.ac.uk

Jessop West

Full contact details

Dr Yu Chen
School of East Asian Studies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA

Profile

Dr Yu Chen obtained BSc from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and two MSc from a collaborative program between Fudan University and the University of Oslo, Norway. She then went to the University of Glasgow to do a PhD in Urban Studies. Her thesis examines labour market experiences of migrants in China using both qualitative and quantitative data from fieldwork in Shanghai.

After an unconditional award of PhD in a viva voce, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in externally-funded projects on housing market and urban change at the same department (Urban Studies) in Glasgow, before securing a lectureship in Chinese Studies at the University of Sheffield.

Qualifications: BSc (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics) MSc (Fudan, Shanghai); MSc (Oslo); PhD (Glasgow)

Research interests: Dr Chen’s research areas are in China’s urbanisation and rural-to-urban migration, urban development, labour market and housing. China is experiencing the largest migration wave in human history, with hundreds of millions of people moving from the countryside to cities to seek better lives. She is working on the social, economic, spatial and environmental consequences of such massive urbanisation. She has published high-quality articles in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Urban Studies, Cities, Housing Studies, Land Use Policy, Habitat International, Environment and Planning B, Professional Geographer, and Population, Space and Place. In addition to journal articles, she co-edited a book entitled ‘Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China’ in 2021.

Her research has been funded by the ESRC, the Worldwide Universities Networks (WUN), and the Universities China Committee in London (UCCL). She worked with colleagues within and beyond Sheffield on two ESRC projects on China’s rapid urbanisation: Dynamics of Health & Environmental Inequalities in Hebei Province, China ES/P003567/1 with a total amount of £199,502; Urban Transformations in China - Urban Development, Migration, Segregation and Inequality ES/N007603/1 with a total amount of £162,025.

Publications

Edited books

Pryce G, Wang YP, Chen Y, Shan J & Wei H (Eds.) (2021) Urban inequality and segregation in Europe and China : towards a new dialogue. Springer, Cham. View this article in WRRO

Journal articles

Cheng M, Chen Y, Lyu L & Bai Y (2024) Children on the Move in China: Insights from the Census Data 2000–2020. Population and Development Review. View this article in WRRO
Lyu L, Sheng D, Chen Y & Bai Y (2023) Parental ethnicity and adolescent development: evidence from a nationally representative dataset. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5). View this article in WRRO
Owen G, Chen Y, Birabi T, Pryce G, Song H & Wang B (2023) Residential segregation of migrants: Disentangling the intersectional and multiscale segregation of migrants in Shijiazhuang, China. Urban Studies, 60(1), 166-182. View this article in WRRO
Zou J, Chen J & Chen Y (2022) Hometown landholdings and rural migrants’ integration intention : the case of urban China. Land Use Policy, 121.
Li G, Li L, Li X & Chen Y (2021) Can the establishment of National Key Ecological Functional Zones improve air quality? : An empirical study from China. PLoS ONE, 16(2).
Chen Y, Dang Y & Dong G (2020) An investigation of migrants’ residential satisfaction in Beijing. Urban Studies, 57(3), 563-582. View this article in WRRO
Zou J, Chen Y & Chen J (2020) The complex relationship between neighbourhood types and migrants’ socio-economic integration: the case of urban China. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 35(1), 65-92. View this article in WRRO
Dang Y, Chen Y & Dong G (2019) Settlement intention of migrants in the Yangtze River Delta, China : the importance of city‐scale contextual effects. Population, Space and Place, 25(8).
Dong G, Ma J, Lee D, Chen M, Pryce G & Chen Y (2019) Developing a locally adaptive spatial multilevel logistic model to analyze ecological effects on health using individual census records. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 110(3), 739-757. View this article in WRRO
Lyu L & Chen Y (2019) Parental migration and young migrants’ wages in urban China: An exploratory analysis. Urban Studies, 56(10), 1968-1987. View this article in WRRO
Dang Y, Dong G, Chen YU, Jones K & Zhang W (2019) Residential environment and subjective well-being in Beijing: a fine-grained spatial scale analysis using a bivariate response binomial multilevel model. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(4), 648-667. View this article in WRRO
Ma J, Dong G, Chen Y & Zhang W (2018) Does satisfactory neighbourhood environment lead to a satisfying life? An investigation of the association between neighbourhood environment and life satisfaction in Beijing. Cities, 74, 229-239. View this article in WRRO
Ma J, Chen Y & Dong G (2018) Flexible spatial multilevel modelling of neighbourhood satisfaction in Beijing. Professional Geographer, 70(1), 11-21. View this article in WRRO
Chen Y & Wang J (2015) Social integration of new-generation migrants in Shanghai China. Habitat International, 49, 419-425. View this article in WRRO
Chen Y, Fingleton B, Pryce G, Chen A & Djordjević S (2013) Implications of rising flood-risk for employment location: A GMM spatial model with agglomeration and endogenous house price effects. Journal of Property Research, 30(4), 298-323.
Chen Y, Gibb K, Leishman C & Wright R (2012) The Impact of Population Ageing on House Prices: A Micro-simulation Approach. SCOTTISH JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, 59(5), 523-542.
Chen Y (2011) Rural migrants in urban China: Characteristics and challenges to public policy. Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit, 26(5), 325-336.
Chen Y & Hoy C (2011) EXPLAINING MIGRANTS' ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY IN URBAN CHINA. Asian Population Studies, 7(2), 123-136.
Pryce G, Chen Y & Galster G (2011) The impact of floods on house prices: an imperfect information approach with myopia and amnesia. Housing Studies, 26(2), 259-279.
Chen Y (2011) Occupational Attainment of Migrants and Local Workers: Findings from a Survey in Shanghai’s Manufacturing Sector. Urban Studies, 48(1), 3-21.
Pryce G & Chen Y (2011) Flood risk and the consequences for housing of a changing climate: an international perspective. Risk Management, 13(4), 228-246.
Chen Y (2009) Migrants in Shanghai’s manufacturing companies: Employment conditions and policy implications. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 2(3), 279-292.
Chen Y & Hoy C (2008) Rural migrants, urban migrants and local workers in Shanghai: Segmented or competitive labour markets?. Built Environment, 34(4), 499-516.

Chapters

Chen Y & Chen J (2021) Research on residential segregation in Chinese cities In Pryce G, Wang YP, Chen Y, Shan J & Wei H (Ed.), Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China : Towards a New Dialogue (pp. 57-73). Springer, Cham View this article in WRRO
Owen G, Chen Y, Pryce G, Birabi T, Song H & Wang B (2021) Deprivation indices in China : establishing principles for application and interpretation In Pryce G, Wang YP, Chen Y, Shan J & Wei H (Ed.), Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China : Towards a New Dialogue (pp. 305-327). Springer, Cham View this article in WRRO
Pryce G, Chen Y & Wang YP (2021) Introduction: Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China, The Urban Book Series (pp. 1-10). Springer International Publishing
Chen Y & Pryce G (2013) Migrants’ job search in urban China: Social networks and the open labour market In Wu F, Zhang F & Webster C (Ed.), Rural Migrants in Urban China: Enclaves and Transient Urbanism (pp. 69-83). London: Routledge.
Chen Y & Pryce G (2011) Environmental Risks: Flooding, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home (pp. 104-108).

Book reviews

Chen Y (2009) Review of 'China's Emerging Cities: The Making of New Urbanism'. Planning Theory and Practice, 10(4), 551-551.

Reports

Leishman C, Gibb K, Meen G, O'Sullivan T, Young G, Chen Y, Orr A & Wright R (2008) Scottish Model of Housing Supply and Affordability: Final Report

Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries

Chen Y & Pryce G (2012) Environmental risks: flooding. In International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. Oxford: Elsevier.

Research group

SEAS Research Cluster

Movement(s), Economy and Development in East Asia

Associated research groups, collaborators and projects

Migration Research Group - Member of Migration Research Group
Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) - Network Member
Regional Studies Association - Member

Research Supervision

Dr Chen welcomes applications from prospective PhD students in the fields of urbanisation, migration, urban development and housing.

Teaching interests: Dr Chen believes that teaching should be student-centred. Through various teaching methods, students gain not only knowledge about specific subjects, but transferable skills of critical thinking, logical reasoning and good communication. She is organising the following UG and TPG modules, besides dissertation supervision at all levels.

Teaching activities

Dr Chen teaches on the following modules:

EAS21026 Population and Environment in China
EAS6204 Chinese Cities in Transition
EAS6868 East Asian Research Methods