About Designing ways for people to belong in changing cities. 刘懿娴 Yixian (Yviane) Liu
Public Art · Urban Research · Civic Design I am a designer and researcher interested in the
relationship between people, memory, and the city. Growing up in Shenzhen and trained in
Public Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, I learned to see cities not only as physical
environments, but as collections of stories, emotions, and social connections. My work
combines field research, mapping, public art, and spatial strategy to explore how design can
make urban life more inclusive, meaningful, and humane. I have worked on projects ranging from
Hakka community research and social design to wetland public art installations and urban
data-driven ecological experiments. Across these different scales, I am most interested in one
question: How can design help people feel seen, connected, and rooted in a rapidly changing
city? Currently, I am preparing for graduate study in Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP in New
York, where I hope to continue bridging art, research, and civic innovation.