Dr Zhixin Liu
School of Architecture and Landscape
Lecturer in Landscape Architecture
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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I started my career as a lecturer in the School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield, in 2024. Prior to joining Sheffield, I was a research assistant professor at School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a postdoctoral fellow at Institute of Future Cities, CUHK. I received my Ph.D degree in Building Environment and Energy Laboratory, South China University of Technology. I was a visiting scholar at Microclimate Design Research Group, Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, Texas A&M University.
I have been actively involved in urban microclimate research since 2013 and have authored more than twenty journal papers focusing on the thermal and human-biometeorological effects of urban greening. My research focuses on climate-adaptive urban environmental design and planning with a specific focus on urban microclimate, thermal effects of urban greening, and outdoor human thermal health. My expertise is in urban microclimate assessment via field observations and numerical simulation. By conducting interdisciplinary research, I focus on providing scientific evidence and translating it to practical strategies for landscape designers, practitioners, and decision-makers for making a better living urban environment.
I enthusiastically participate in academic activities, serving as a reviewer for over ten leading journals in the fields of urban (micro)climate, urban greening, and biometeorology. In 2023, I was honored with the "Excellence in Reviewing" award by Urban Climate for my contributions. Additionally, I serve as the primary editor for a book titled Urban Greenery and Microclimate: Experience from Subtropical High-density Cities for Climate-sensitive Planning and Design, which is being prepared for publication by Springer.
- Research interests
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- Urban microclimates
- Thermal effects of urban greening
- Human thermal comfort/health
- Evidence-based climate-responsive landscape design
- Microclimatic research methodology
Areas of Potential Research Degree Supervision
Students interested in urban microclimate research are very welcome to join my research team and I would be delighted to serve as your master's or PhD advisor. We offer a professional platform for urban microclimate studies, equipped with specialized simulation software and instruments for microclimate observation. Areas of potential research degree supervision are:
- Multi-scale urban climate research
- Evidence-based urban blue-green infrastructure design optimization
- Outdoor human thermal comfort and thermal safety for thermally vulnerable populations
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Creating a thermally comfortable city through urban green infrastructure: An international review of greening policies. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 105, 128713-128713.
- Designing breezeways to enhance wind environments in high-density cities: A comprehensive analysis of ten morphological parameters. Sustainable Cities and Society, 105898-105898.
- A modified COMFA model for elderly people in outdoor environments. Sustainable Cities and Society, 99, 104940-104940.
- Modeling microclimatic effects of trees and green roofs/façades in ENVI-met: Sensitivity tests and proposed model library. Building and Environment, 244, 110759-110759.
- Evaluation on the performance of tree view factor in a high-density subtropical city: A case study in Hong Kong. Building and Environment, 239, 110431-110431.
- Parametrization of irregularity of urban morphologies for designing better pedestrian wind environment in high-density cities – A wind tunnel study. Building and Environment, 226, 109692-109692.
- Microclimatic measurements in tropical cities: Systematic review and proposed guidelines. Building and Environment, 222, 109411-109411.
- Comparing different recalibrated methods for estimating mean radiant temperature in outdoor environment. Building and Environment, 216, 109004-109004.
- Playing on natural or artificial turf sports field? Assessing heat stress of children, young athletes, and adults in Hong Kong. Sustainable Cities and Society, 75, 103271-103271.
- Approaches for identifying heat-vulnerable populations and locations: A systematic review. Science of The Total Environment, 799, 149417-149417.
- Heat mitigation benefits of urban green and blue infrastructures: A systematic review of modeling techniques, validation and scenario simulation in ENVI-met V4. Building and Environment, 200, 107939-107939.
- The effect of trees on human energy fluxes in a humid subtropical climate region. International Journal of Biometeorology, 64(10), 1675-1686.
- Predicting the influence of subtropical trees on urban wind through wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations. Sustainable Cities and Society, 57, 102116-102116.
- An in-depth analysis of the effect of trees on human energy fluxes. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 50, 126646-126646.
- Modeling of shade creation and radiation modification by four tree species in hot and humid areas: Case study of Guangzhou, China. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 47, 126545-126545.
- Influence of trees on the outdoor thermal environment in subtropical areas: An experimental study in Guangzhou, China. Sustainable Cities and Society, 42, 482-497.
- Simulating validation of ENVI-met vegetation model to Ficus microcarpa in hot-humid region of subtropical zone. Beijing Linye Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Beijing Forestry University, 40(3), 1-12.
- Study on the modified three-temperature model for spatial extrapolation of evapotranspiration based on individual urban vegetation evapotranspiration data. Building Simulation, 1-21.
- Evaluation of the ENVI-Met Vegetation Model of Four Common Tree Species in a Subtropical Hot-Humid Area. Atmosphere, 9(5), 198-198.
- Creating a thermally comfortable city through urban green infrastructure: An international review of greening policies. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 105, 128713-128713.
- Grants
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2023-2025 Study on the long-term impact of green space on urban local climate and building energy consumption in hot and humid areas
An international scientific and technological cooperation projects (Co-I)
Funded by Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China
2018-2019 The Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Innovation Fund
Funded by South China University of Technology, China
- Teaching activities
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- LSC117 Presentation, Communication and Research Skills
- LSC408 Advanced Landscape Research and Dissertation Preparation
- LSC413 Final Landscape Project
- LSC419 Advanced Landscape Planning - Global Issues (Urban Microclimates, Climate-Responsive Design, and Advanced Simulation Tool)
- LSC6140 Landscape Research Dissertation
- Professional activities and memberships
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Memberships
- Honorary Research Associate, School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Team Member, The Sustainable and Environmental Design Team
Editorships
- Associate editor, Urban Climate
- Invited guest editor, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
Professional activities
- Journal refereeing: Nature Communications; Building and Environment; Sustainable Cities and Society; Urban Climate; Urban Forestry and Urban Greening; International Journal of Biometeorology; Sustainability; Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering; Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences; Architectural Science Review, etc.
- Awards
- Excellence in Reviewing (2023) (awarded to Zhixin in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the quality of the journal Urban Climate)
- The winner of Future Building Category of the "Advancing Net Zero" Ideas Competition, organized by the Hong Kong Green Building Council. Collaborated with Ronald Lu & Partners (Hong Kong) Ltd. (2021)