Wen ZhangUrban Plannerarchitect

ReSUMeWen Zhang

424 Riddle Road, apt 5, Cincinnati, Oh 45220zhang2w4@mail.uc.edu, Cell: 513-680-8985

About Me:Born and raised in China offers me a 20-year-long high-density living experience, which has enriched my understanding of urbanism on a personal scale. Completing an architecture degree at Beijing University of Technology and receiving training and education in planning at UC helped me channel my experience into useful practice.

Education:UnIVeRSITY OF CInCInnaTI, Cincinnati, OhMaster of Community Planning, expected graduation May 2017, gPa 3.7Planning Course List: Cities & Planning; Methods of Planning; Transportation Planning; Methods of Physical Planning; Structure & Dynamics of human Settlement, Land Use Planning.

UnIVeRSITY OF CInCInnaTI, Cincinnati, OhVisiting Student, aug 2014-May 2015, gPa 3.0

BeIJIng UnIVeRSITY OF TeChnOLOgY, Beijing, ChinaBachelor’s Degree in architecture, July 2015, gPa 3.3

Experience:Internship:China architecture Design & Research group, Beijing, ChinaJun 2014-Jul 2014Researched a destroyed Chinese royal garden from archives to assist perfecting prophase modeling of a clubhouse project.Jobs at School:College Youth League (Student Union), Vice Secretary, BJUT, Beijing, ChinaJul 2012-aug 2013Organize student events, find sponsors outside the campus, and hold training sessions for younger members.Student affairs Office, assistant, BJUT, Beijing, ChinaJan 2011-May 2014assign tasks for different student groups, inform upcoming events to students, and assist faculties in the office.

Awards:2015 – Top Ten graduates of Beijing University of Technology, among 1,200 graduates, for School Jobs;2015 – excellent graduate of Beijing, for Top 5% graduates (Bachelor to Doctor) in Beijing;2014 – Published “exploration of new Rural area Planning in Beijing under the angle of Industry Development” in the journal “Beijing Planning Review”, Volume 155, Page 102-104 (in Chinese);2013 – Outstanding Individual of Social Practice activity among University Students in Beijing;2013 – excellent Youth League Member of Beijing.

SKILL ArcGIS V-RayAutoCAD Photoshop SketchUpInDesign Lumion

Beginner BeginnerProficient Proficient ProficientFamiliar FamiliarLEVELLanguage: Mandarin Chinese

Table of Content

Undergraduate School Work.........................................................................1 Community Planning & Residential Building Design..................................2 hotel Design...............................................................................................4 Rethinking Burnet Woods..........................................................................6 BJUT Campus energy Saving Research.......................................................8 UC Capstone: e-Bike's Pteintial in Detroit...................................................9

graduate School Work................................................................................11 Transportation Planning Report...............................................................12 Method of Planning Research..................................................................13 Method of Physical Planning assignments...............................................14

Undergraduate School Work

I spent five years in Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) working on my architecture undergraduate degree. architecture education in BJUT is very different from that at the United States colleges. It focuses more on science and engineering knowlegde, as well as the accuracy and correctness of the final construction drawings, instead of art and creation. however, design abilities is also required, especially the ones to express different projects with computer technology.

During undergraduate study, I managed to learn how to use Sketch Up, autoCaD, Lumion and Photoshop expertly, as well as several other softwares that could help analyzing our project. although I chose to change my field of study to Planning in UC, but the architecture background has given me a great set of skills to be productive in a professional office.

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Community Planning & Residential Building Design

Sunlight Analysis

This school project lasted for a semester in the fourth year. First half was apartment building design, the other was community planning (more physical planning than policy making).

Communities in China, especially in cities like Beijing looks very different from ones in Cincinnati. The floor area ratio is always above 3, which means high-rise apartment is the key residential form. however, living conditions in the newly built communities are extremly significant. Creating a good community always means considering several sets of regulations and rules at the same time. Such restrictions not only affect how the community would look like as a whole, but each buiding's layout and figure.

The work started from understanding related laws and basic standards. Learning from existing high-ranked communities are always important. after those preparation finished, the designing and planning came later seemed more like following a set of princinples.

The building design was a personal assignment, which includes blue print drawing, 3D modeling, renderer and formatting. The Community Planning, however, was teamwork, so I paid more attention into modeling.

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hotel DesignThe hotel design also took place in the fourth year. It was teamwork of three the whole time. The site was at the southwest corner of our campus. hence, the theme my team decided for the hotel was conference holding. Besides, since our university focuses more on scientific research rather than liberal art, the facade style we chose was an industrial looking.

We did check some similar conference hotels in Beijing for a week, gathered useful imformation. and again, the regulations related to hotel design, such as emergency extraction codes, were also required to be applied.

nine different building forms were required as first draft. We ended up using a seperational form, dividing the main function from the others. a 4-stories conference section attached with main building by ground floor garden and overpasses was created, whose lower deck also serves as a student cafe, dividing college personnel from hotel customers as well.

During this project, I was more concentrated on plan drawing, and helped built the computer model of a typical floor.

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SITE PLAN & ELEMENTS

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Discovery Zones are educational and recreational areas, each with a specific theme that relates the topic at hand to Burnet Woods and/or the natural environment as a whole.

Discovery Zones create a space for community inclusion while explicitly serving those central Cincinnati un-derrepresented minorities through a diverse range of lifelong learning opportunities.

Activities within Discovery Zones are accessible and appealing to users of different ages, genders, socio-economic statuses, cultures, interests, mobility levels, and lifestyles.

Discovery Zone themes: Built Environment Health & Wellness Creative Expression Natural History

Pathways are designed to equitably prioritize community goals by increasing the ease of active transport access to the Burnet Woods interior; enhancing that experience, and enlarging the park’s stake in the community. A variety of pathways types are offered to increase and expand the user base of Burnet Woods, and provide an array of options for those traveling by automobile, public transit, non-motorized vehicle, or on foot.

Trails

Bus Stops with Shelters

PATHWAYS

Our vision is to expand the edge of burnet woods. Incorporat-ing new features like the jogging path can increase communi-ty and park connectivity through activities like running. UC stu-dents or neighborhood residents can add these new paths in-to their daily routine.

Streetscape

The streetscape plan prioritizes the person over the automobile while still leaving room for functional parking. It has been shown that transforming causeways into green ways improves the health of those in the community while expanding the borders of Burnet Woods.

Pedestrian Promenade

Numerous ADA accessible paths have been created. The trails can create a great connection between the promenade and those spots deep inside the woods, which shall create better accessibility.

Paths have been more strongly linked to existing bus stops with shelters for rain and snow.

Health & Wellness

Built Environment

Creative Expression

Natural History

Pedestrian Promenade

Road

Bus Stop

LEGEND Pathways and Access Points Discovery Zones

Trail

Rethinking Burnet WoodsThis group project was done in niehoff Urban Studio. It planned to made Burnet Woods thrive again, servicing the nearby neighborhood as a community park like Washington Park in new York.

Our group believed that the values of our plan should be community serving, education oriented and equity persuing. It should work closely with stakeholders to improve related services, incease access with surrounding area, enchance connectivity within the park and minimize inequity. This project showed me that policy making is treated equally with designing in UC. In addition to the teamwork, I did the physical designs for several points in Burnet Woods by myself, in order to reach the standards of my graduation project in BJUT.

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Left Page:Rain collecting system and the water reused for landscape.

Up: Sample Pages of PaperMid: Internet of Things ResearchDown: Achievements

BJUT Campus energy Saving ResearchThis paper was also finished in the first semester I came to UC.

University is a significant part of modern society. all these elites graduated from different level of campuses are making considerable contribution for the development of the world. For the colleges and institutions that are pursuing that goal, steady and sufficient power and natural resources supply are important to ensure educational and living quality. This paper focuses on the current consumption of resources on university campuses and searches for those reasons we also sought effective methods for building sustainable educational institutes from the perspectives of technology and management, so that all the campuses can take the burden as a part of sustainable society.

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Capstone: e-bike's Poteintial in DetroitThis was the capstone project I did as visiting student. It focused on discussing the possible popularization of electric bike in Detroit in order to promote social equity and a healthy, affordable lifestyle.

China has been known as a bicycle kingdom. however, with the economic growth, a severe change occurred in the last decade. electric bicycles (e-bikes) has become the most popular commuting transportation. In any city like Detroit, where the metropolitan area has been shrinking for years and lack of good mass transit system, e-bike could play an important role in people`s daily life. In the Sino-US Joint Statement on Climate Change released in 2014, both of the nations committed to cut down ghg emission while offering the citizens a better life. Using e-bikes in U.S. cities as Chinese people do could be an effective way to achieve our common goal, while China learning more administrative and legislative methods to regulate the e-bikes on roads.

The United States has been known as “a nation on vehicles` wheels” for over a century. as a matter of fact, automobile vehicles have made a great contribution to this country and our world. however, the severe environmental impact that these fuel burners have been creating makes us to rethink whether motorized vehicle, with all its pollution and consumption, is the best way for us to commute or not. That is the reason why people in Detroit are seeking for an expanding non-motorized transportation plan.

Fortunately, there is a living example. China, known as “the bicycle kingdom”, has depended on non-motorized transportation for daily commute in urban area over half a century. To be honest, the reason that made Chinese people chose bikes over cars decades ago was not the awareness of protecting our planet, but poverty. however it does not affect the truth that american people can learn from China on this.

an e-bike cost from less than $100 to $350, and its portable battery can be charged everywhere with a normal power outlet. nowadays, e-bikes mostly use 48V-20a battery, which need at most 2 Kilowatt-hour electricity for one full charge and could travel at least 30 miles with a 25mph speed. Since charging the battery do not require any special device, so the residential electricity price of Michigan could be used to calculate that users only need to pay only 28.8 cents for one charge. 28.8 cents for 30 miles zero-emission travel, no one would say it is unworthy.

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graduate School WorkSince I was here in UC as a visiting for a year, the first year of my graduate study was quite smooth. arcgIS becomes a major software of our courses, which I am spending time learning with experienced classmates. The methodology courses I took are extremely helpful, which offered me tools to quantify and analyze real world problems.

Most of the courses I took reflected my work by tests and researching papers, few have maps and graphics. The following projects shows some skills I have recently acquired.

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Transportation PlanningThe "Yizhuang-Tongzhou Rail Transit Plan" paper was the final work for the course Transportation Planning. The paper discussed several aspects of what shall be required for constructing a transit system designed in our study area. It was a two student teamwork, yet the job division was quite clear. I was in charge of researching the economic analysis, financing mode and displaying our final plan.

The research helped me understand how transit projects are financed in China and other developed countries. It allowed me to figure out the strength and weakness of different types as well. Besides, choosing the project route was never an easy task. Several elements, such as servicing range and poteintial users, maximizing possible economic development, fiscal feasibility and cost-effectiveness are equally important, and sometimes conflicting with each other, which makes consideration complicated. Learning this information helped me understand mass transit systems better.

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Method of Physical PlanningThe concern for the deterioration of the physical environment caused by ongoing urbanization is a theme that has been at the core of the planning profession for a long time. Physical planning has been expanding in order to accommodate new approaches and attitudes towards land use and zoning, viable city centers, accessible public spaces, and environmentally sensitive development.

The Method of Physical Planning Course offers me a chance to start working on arcgIS. Till now, by analyzing our selected community, I learnt how to understang our studying area better with exsiting data. Besides, transforming data into readable information is also critical.

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Method of Planning ResearchThis course introduces me to a wide variety of planning analytical methods relating to planning research and policy analysis to help us students better understand the true nature of the urban and regional planning process. Learning concepts and principles from a wide variety of different planning analytical methods and their applicability to real world issues are the main focus of this course, including demographic and economic analytical methods, benefit-cost analysis, transportation analysis, and statistical techniques.