Dr Meiling WU joined the APSS as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2024 under the PolyU Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme. She received her PhD in Planning and Housing from the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, and earlier completed her MPhil and Bachelor’s degree at Sun Yat-sen University. Before joining PolyU, she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University.

Dr WU’s research focuses on Urbanisation and Rural Transformation, Community Governance, Housing, Middle-Class Consumption, with a particular focus on contemporary China. Her work examines how spatial planning, policy instruments, and market actors interact to shape and reshape the livelihoods, governance structures, and community dynamics within rural society.

She employs mixed methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, network analysis, and field-based case studies, to interrogate the socio-spatial dynamics of rural change and urbanisation. Her research appears in leading journals such as Journal of Rural Studies, Habitat International, and The Journal of Peasant Studies. She has also contributed to the book Village Housing Constraints and Opportunities in Rural England.

• Doctor of Philosophy, University College London
• Master of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University