M.Landscape Arch with Distinction, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 2017

B.Engineering in Landscape Arch, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, 2015

Visiting, School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University, 2013

Visiting, MIT Sloan School of Management, 2016

Yujia Wang is a landscape architect and a professor of practice at the College of Architecture. He is also a Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Faculty Fellow.

Wang is interested in the process in government-invested urban environment projects, such as parks, waterfronts and infrastructure. Examination of the process is conducted through various lenses in an overarching area of human dimensions, for example cultural and emotional preferences and perceptions. Wang is interested in drawing lines between traditional environmental performance targets and the less-tangible human performance, which are often separated in the process.

Coming from his experience in public practice, Wang believes in the value of this focus area because it offers insights into current decision-making pattern, which in turn enables a more intentional and optimized approach to outcomes, in synergy with people. As the world faces challenges of climate in heat, storm, and ecological shifts, Wang emphasizes the relevance of involving the human aspect for employing nature-based solutions in cities. The overarching goal is to use research, education, and collaboration to inform the practice in enhancing human performance and advancing nature-based solutions through human-nature co-benefits.

Wang's work extends to both domestic and international contexts and takes various forms of engagement, including professional and collaborative practice, community engagement processes, interdisciplinary research, service, and teaching in classrooms. For example, in a recent research projects, Wang and team have assessed thoughts and emotions related to natural spaces and preferred species, with the findings used as evidence to inform the evolution of sponge-city projects, positioning them as enchanting emotional assets for policymakers and landscape architects.

Informed by insights from research and practice, the classes Wang offers share similar points of observation and insertion. These classes include landscape design studios, design thinking, site systems, and seminars in value choices in urban public space. Collaboration is a hallmark of Wang's work, as he partners government stakeholders, landscape, architecture, and planning firms, as well as faculty from the University of Nebraska System and other institutions. Most recently, Wang have collaborated with the Landscape Architecture Foundation and Turenscape, an influential international landscape practice and leader in sponge city planning and design in China, on post-occupancy performance research.

Outreach and service play a crucial role in Wang's engagement with the wider community. As a member of American Society of Landscape Architects' national Climate Actions Committee, Wang focuses on public messaging under the context of the Climate Action Plan and the UN COP and SDG agenda. Additionally, Wang has served as a jury on the ASLA Professional Award, and regularly delivered lectures at universities and presented at conferences.

Wang has received numerous design awards for the projects he led, as well as general awards like the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. The projects, ranging from community gardens to large urban parks, have garnered attention in both professional and general media. Beyond these, Wang also enjoy celebrating honors received by students, such as the NDCASLA Student Design Award.

Urban Narratives Office L+P is the vehicle through which Wang engages directly with professional, creative practice. Prior experience at Sasaki, a renowned interdisciplinary design firm, contributes to the rich tapestry of his expertise. A graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Design and Chongqing University School of Architecture and Urban Planning specializing in landscape architecture, Wang possesses additional background in policy (through MIT) and planning systems, urban planning, and spatial strategy (through Cardiff University in Wales, UK). Wang currently works at the intersection between design and social science, and between practice and research. He believes that the combination of experience from policy level to site design forms a crucial base for examining the interaction between emotional and rational structures in the design process, upon which advancement of nature-based solutions depend.