Professor Profile

Dr. Sang-Ju Yu is Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Urban Planning and Director of the International Program on Urban Governance at the International College of Sustainability Innovations, National Taipei University. He also serves as a member of the Urban Planning Commission of the Ministry of the Interior, a core member of the Ministry of Education’s Learning City Initiative, and an expert board member of Taiwan International Ports Corporation. He is one of Taiwan’s few urban scholars who combine a global academic perspective with extensive experience in both central and local government and a proven capacity for cross-sector policy practice.
Dr. Yu received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of internationally renowned urban geographer Professor Ash Amin. He also earned an MSc with Distinction in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Spanning political science, urban planning, and human geography, his research encompasses urban regeneration, infrastructure and megaprojects, smart governance, emotional geography, and the net-zero transition, reflecting a highly integrated and forward-looking approach to urban studies.
Taking waterfront regeneration in Kaohsiung and the transformation of Asian industrial cities as his points of departure, Dr. Yu moves beyond conventional frameworks dominated by European and North American urban experiences. Through innovative concepts such as “affective atmospheres” and “performative planning,” he examines the complex relationships among public infrastructure, urban visions, and urban society. This distinctive perspective has established a strong scholarly profile at the intersection of urban governance and emotional geography. His research has appeared in leading international journals, including Geoforum, Landscape Research, International Planning Studies, and Emotion, Space and Society. He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.
Before entering academia, Dr. Yu held senior positions in both local and central government, including Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Bureau and Deputy Secretary-General of Kaohsiung City Government, as well as Director of the Office of the Secretary-General at the Presidential Office. His extensive involvement in urban infrastructure and planning, major policy formulation, and interdepartmental governance enables him to bridge academic theory and policy practice with rare insight. As a result, his research offers not only theoretical depth but also practical relevance to the real-world challenges of urban and regional development.
Dr. Yu believes that outstanding urban research should not merely analyze and explain cities, but also open up new possibilities for their future. Through his research and teaching, he continues to advance more inclusive, innovative, resilient, and publicly oriented approaches to governance while cultivating a new generation of urban professionals equipped with global perspectives, interdisciplinary thinking, and the capacity to translate knowledge into meaningful public action.

Education

Ph.D., Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK

M.Sc., Regional and Urban Planning, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

B.A., Department of Political Science (Public Administration Division), National Taiwan University, TWN

Specialties

Urban Planning and Regeneration

Infrastructure and Megaproject

Urban Governance and Policy Innovation

Smart City and Smart Governance

Emotional Geography

Experiences

2024 ~ Commissioner, Project Review Committee, Kaohsiung City Government Bureau of Transportation

2024 ~ Commissioner, Project Review Committee, Kaohsiung City Government Mass Rapid Transit Bureau

2024 ~ Commissioner, Digital Application Promotion Advisory Committee, Chiayi County Government

2024–2025 Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Public Affairs Management, National Sun Yat-sen University

2023–2025 Director of Operations, Carbon Credit Research and Service Center, National Sun Yat-sen University

2022 ~ Committee Member, International Affairs Committee, Geographical Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

2022 ~ Project Reviewer, Ministry of Science and Technology, Division of Sustainability

2021 ~ Executive Director, Taiwan Association of Development Studies

2021 ~ President, Taiwan Digital Financial Transaction and Data Protection Association

2021 ~ Invited Lecturer, Kaohsiung City Government Talent Development Center

2020 ~ Invited Lecturer, National Academy for Educational Research

2020 ~ Invited Lecturer, National Academy of Civil Service

2020–2024 Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Public Affairs Management, National Sun Yat-sen University

2018–2020 Director, Office of the Secretary-General, Office of the President

2018 ~ Invited Lecturer, National Academy of Civil Service

2018 ~ Deputy Secretary-General, Kaohsiung City Government

2012–2018 Chief Secretary, Bureau of Urban Development, Kaohsiung City Government

2006–2012 Confidential Secretary, Office of the Mayor, Kaohsiung City Government

Courses

Urban Political Economy and Planning Strategies

Urbanization and Global Climate Change

Urban and Regional Development Planning and Implementation Strategies

Contacts

Tel: +886-2-86741111 #67363

Email: yusangju@gmail.com

Resume and Publications

2025 Yu Sang Ju CV