Zhongjie Lin

Zhongjie Lin is the Benjamin Z. Lin Presidential Professor of Urban Design at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, where he heads the Urban Design concentration and directs the Future Cities Initiative. He is also the co-founder of Futurepolis, an award-winning international firm of architecture, urban planning, and landscape design.

Lin’s research focuses on the theory and practice of urban design, sustainable urbanism, contemporary Asian architecture and cities, and the interrelationship between urban mobility and the built environment. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist Movement: Urban Utopias of Modern Japan (2010/2023), Rio de Janeiro: Urban Expansion and Environment (2019), Vertical Urbanism: Designing Compact Cities in China (2018), The Making of a Chinese Model New Town (2012), and Urban Design in the Global Perspective (2006). His latest publications in 2025 are Constructing Utopias: China’s New Town Movement in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press) and Futurepolis: Toward a Holistic Environmental Design (China Architecture and Building Press).

Lin recently directed a three-year Penn Global project titled “Spatial Visions Connecting China and the West.” He curated the acclaimed exhibition “Building in China: A Century of Dialogues on Modern Architecture” and led symposia on infrastructure and urban regeneration. His ongoing research explores the spatial and environmental impacts of emerging autonomous mobility technologies.