Dr Mei Zhang

BA (Peking University), PhD (Cambridge)

School of East Asian Studies

Lecturer in Chinese Studies

Mei Zhang
Profile picture of Mei Zhang
m.zhang@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Dr Mei Zhang
School of East Asian Studies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
Research interests

Having worked in a number of multidisciplinary research environments in Beijing, Cambridge, Stuttgart and Sheffield, Dr Zhang’s research interests lie mainly in two themes: globalisation and its impact on rural-urban migration, rural development and urbanisation in China; and cultural, environmental and sustainable development.

Following her PhD work in Cambridge, Dr. Zhang has systematically studied the growth of the post-1978 Chinese economy, especially focusing on rural development in China’s poor regions and the role of rural-urban migration in solving rural poverty during the process of globalization.

She has also examined the impacts of economic growth on environmental and cultural reservation, considering different cultural backgrounds.

Through a number of research projects funded by the European Commission and the British Academy, Dr Zhang has studied cross-cultural differences in urban comfort and sustainable development between China and UK, from social, economical and psychological viewpoints.

Based on a series of large scale surveys, quantitative and qualitative analyses have been made, including semantic differential analysis.

Publications

Books

  • Zhang M (2003) China’s Poor Regions. Rural-Urban Migration, Poverty, Economic Reform and Urbanization. London: Routledge Curzon. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

Conference proceedings papers

  • Lee PJ, Lee BK, Jeon JY, Zhang M & Kang J (2014) Effect of noise disturbance on job satisfaction and health symptoms in open-plan offices: A structural equation model exercise. Proceedings of Forum Acusticum, Vol. 2014-January RIS download Bibtex download
  • Kang J & Zhang M (2010) Semantic differential analysis of the soundscape in urban open public spaces. BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT, Vol. 45(1) (pp 150-157) RIS download Bibtex download
Research group

SEAS Research Cluster

Movement(s), Economy and Development in East Asia

Associated research groups, collaborators and projects

INTERSECTION: A cross-national research project about intergenerational justice, consumption and sustainability - Investigator

Teaching activities

EAS6271 Chinese Language 1

EAS6272 Chinese Language 2

EAS6273 Chinese Language 3

EAS6274 Chinese Language 4

Mei Zhang also coordinates the China Year Abroad