Publications
I have a keen interest in architecture, urban design and environmental health.
As a trained architect from China, I have been involved in several successful projects in China, demonstrating my creativity and expertise in architecture and urban design. After completing my Master's degree, I worked as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at Tsinghua University, facilitating research, workshops and supervision.
Seeking a deeper understanding of human health and the urban environment, I went to Denmark for my PhD and developed a new methodology to track human physiological stress responses to urban design elements on the street, contributing to the integration of scientific research and urban design strategies.
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Over the years, my research has focused on using new technologies and methods to investigate the relationship between urban design and human health, with the aim of exploring support for evidence-based design and practice-led research.
Journal articles
1. Zhang, Z., Amegbor, P. M., Sigsgaard, T., & Sabel, C. E. (2022). Assessing the association between urban features and human physiological stress response using wearable sensors in different urban contexts. Health & Place, 78, 102924. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102924
2. Zhang, Z., Amegbor, P. M., & Sabel, C. E. (2022). The feasibility of integrating wearable cameras and health trackers for measuring personal exposure to urban features: a pilot study in Roskilde, Denmark. International Journal of E-Planning Research (IJEPR), 11(1), 1-21. http://doi.org/10.4018/IJEPR.313181
3. Chen, L., Zhang, Z., & Long, Y. (2021). Association between leisure-time physical activity and the built environment in China: Empirical evidence from an accelerometer and GPS-based fitness app. PLoS One, 16(12), e0260570. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0260570
4. Zhang, Z., Long, Y., Chen, L., & Chen, C. (2021). Assessing personal exposure to urban greenery using wearable cameras and machine learning. Cities, 109. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2020.103006
5. Zhang, Z., Amegbor, P. M., & Sabel, C. E. (2021). Assessing the Current Integration of Multiple Personalised Wearable Sensors for Environment and Health Monitoring. Sensors (Basel), 21(22). doi:10.3390/s21227693
6. Amegbor, P. M., Zhang, Z., Dalgaard, R., & Sabel, C. E. (2020). Multilevel and spatial analyses of childhood malnutrition in Uganda: examining individual and contextual factors. Sci Rep, 10(1), 20019. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76856-y
7. Wu, H., Zhang, Z., Chen, Y., & Jiao, J. (2020). The impact of street characteristics on older pedestrians’ perceived safety in Shanghai, China. Journal of Transport and Land Use, 13(1), 469-490. doi:10.5198/jtlu.2020.1588
8. Zhang, Z., & Long, Y. (2019). Application of wearable cameras in studying individual behaviors in built environments. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 7(2), 22-37. doi:10.15302/j-laf-20190203
Book chapter
1. Sabel, C. E., Amegbor, P. M., Zhang, Z., Chen, T.-H. K., Poulsen, M. B., Hertel, O., . . . Khan, J. (2021). Urban Health and Wellbeing. In W. Shi, M. F. Goodchild, M. Batty, M.-P. Kwan, & A. Zhang (Eds.), Urban Informatics (pp. 259-280). Singapore: Springer Singapore.
Exhibition
1. Long Ying, Pai Li, & Zhaoxi Zhang (2019), Digital Self, Daily life and city Space — Using wearable cameras for portraying our life, Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism/ Architecture
Conferences
1.“Measuring the health effects of ‘Green’ and ‘blue’ elements in different types of urban environments by employing wearable sensors: A field experiment in Copenhagen, Denmark”. Zhang, Z. (presenter), Amegbor, P. M., Sabel, C. E., & Sigsgaard, T. The 2022 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. American Association of Geographers, New York, USA, Feb 25–March 1, 2022
2.“Integrating multiple personalised sensors for measuring human responses to urban features: A pilot study”. Zhang, Z. (presenter), Amegbor, P. M., & Sabel, C. E. 5th International Conference Urban E-Planning, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. Sep 2021
3.“Exploration on the personal spatial exposure of greenness based on the experiment of wearable camera”. Zhang, Z. (presenter), & Long,Y. 16th International Conference on Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management. Wuhan, China. July 8–12, 2019
4.“Analysis on the Influence of Street Design on Elderly people’s walking safety”. Zhang, Z. (presenter), & Chen, Y. The Proceedings of 2018 World Transport Convention. Beijing, China. Jun 13–16, 2018
5.“A review of relationship between objective analysis and subjective perception on Urban Morphology Study”. Zhang, Z. (presenter), ISUF Conference 2017, Valencia, Spain. Sep 27–29, 2017
6.“Regional Integration in Ethnic and Religious Contexts: Taking Germany and China as Examples”. Zhang, Z., AESOP Annual Congress 2017, Lisbon, Portugal. July 11–14, 2017
7.“Analysis of the block built environment elements that influence residents’ commute transportation choices”. Zhang, Z., & Wu, H. (presenter), 12th EBRA Conference, Chongqing, China. Oct 28–29, 2016
Interviews & Talks
1. Interview: "City Walk: Urban Context May Make a Difference on Human Health"
2. External speaker "Urban Health Sensing: Physiologically measure human responses to different urban features and evaluate the health effects of urban exposures.", on the internal webinar (only for eMOTIONALCities’ partners) in February, 25th, 2021 at Danmarks Tekniske Universitet – DTU
3. Interview: "How Our Surroundings Affect Our Mental Health "
4.External speaker "Urban Health: From Theory to Practice, From Research to Design ", on the internal webinar (Journal Club) in October 12th, 2022 at Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen