Collegium Helveticum
Switzerland
fellow
Li Wan
2025-2026
Home institution
University of Cambridge
Country of origin (home institution)
United Kingdom
Discipline(s)
Computers and intelligent systems; Earth, environmental and climate sciences; Geography; Urban and architectural studies
Theme(s)
Environment, Sustainability & Biodiversity
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
As Professor of Planning at the University of Cambridge, Li Wan is interested in spatial economic modelling of urban land use and transport systems. His current research projects include strategic planning at the city/regional level, evaluating the spatial economic impacts of transport decarbonization and adaptation, and land value capture through development taxes and planning obligations.
Research Project
Urban Densification and Transport: Decarbonization Behavioral Insights for New Policy Narratives
Urban densification and transport decarbonization, despite their interdependence, are typically pursued in deep institutional and disciplinary silos. What is more, existing policies are predominantly top-down and generic in design, lacking a clear and credible theory of change connecting policy interventions to durable shifts in everyday behaviour. Li Wan’s fellowship project aims to address these two main research gaps.
The project is structured into three work packages:
- Comparative empirical analysis: using the Swiss Mobility Panel and the English National Travel Survey to examine how different forms of urban densification shape travel behavior across contrasting institutional and cultural contexts.
- Critical assessment of existing policies: evaluating the evidence base, behavioral assumptions, and theory of change embedded in current densification and sustainable transport policies in Switzerland and the UK.
- Co-creation of new policy narratives: integrating interdisciplinary behavioral insights and experimental approaches to develop more compelling urban sustainability narratives and innovative forms of public engagement.
Research Interests:
urban densification; transport decarbonisation; sustainable mobility; travel behaviour; urban planning; policy analysis; behavioural science.