The Research Centre for Digital Transformation in Tourism (RCDTT) successfully hosted a high-level research seminar today, featuring Professor Liu Yu from the Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System at Peking University. The seminar, titled "Social Sensing for Urban Studies," attracted over 60 onsite participants, including the Director of RCDTT Prof. Haiyan Song, Research Assistant Professors (RAPs), and a significant cohort of PhD and Master’s students, fostering a vibrant atmosphere of academic inquiry.
The session was chaired by Professor Mimi Li, Associate Director of RCDTT, who welcomed the audience and highlighted the importance of integrating geospatial technologies with social science to address contemporary urban challenges.
During the seminar, Professor Liu Yu presented a cutting-edge theoretical framework that redefines how we understand urban spaces. He introduced the concept of “social sensors,” illustrating how geospatial big data—such as social media footprints and taxi trajectories—can be harnessed to decode complex urban dynamics. By synthesizing Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) with traditional urban informatics, Prof. Liu demonstrated transformative approaches to sensing "places" through sentiment mapping and temporal activity rhythms. His research reveals the hidden socioeconomic structures of cities that are often invisible to conventional sensing methods.
As a pioneer in GeoAI and the President-elect of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS) for 2026, Prof. Liu’s insights provided the RCDTT community with invaluable perspectives on the nexus of human behavior and digital urbanism.
The presentation was followed by an engaging Q&A session, where faculty and students engaged in a deep dive into the methodology of big data analytics and its applications in tourism and urban planning. The event concluded with a strong sense of academic synergy, reinforcing RCDTT’s commitment to facilitating international knowledge exchange and promoting interdisciplinary research at the forefront of digital transformation.
The session was chaired by Professor Mimi Li, Associate Director of RCDTT, who welcomed the audience and highlighted the importance of integrating geospatial technologies with social science to address contemporary urban challenges.
During the seminar, Professor Liu Yu presented a cutting-edge theoretical framework that redefines how we understand urban spaces. He introduced the concept of “social sensors,” illustrating how geospatial big data—such as social media footprints and taxi trajectories—can be harnessed to decode complex urban dynamics. By synthesizing Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) with traditional urban informatics, Prof. Liu demonstrated transformative approaches to sensing "places" through sentiment mapping and temporal activity rhythms. His research reveals the hidden socioeconomic structures of cities that are often invisible to conventional sensing methods.
As a pioneer in GeoAI and the President-elect of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS) for 2026, Prof. Liu’s insights provided the RCDTT community with invaluable perspectives on the nexus of human behavior and digital urbanism.
The presentation was followed by an engaging Q&A session, where faculty and students engaged in a deep dive into the methodology of big data analytics and its applications in tourism and urban planning. The event concluded with a strong sense of academic synergy, reinforcing RCDTT’s commitment to facilitating international knowledge exchange and promoting interdisciplinary research at the forefront of digital transformation.
| Topics | Research |
|---|---|
| Research Units | Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism |
You may also like
