Yunhan Wen

I am a Postgraduate Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University, where I received my Ph.D. in Sociology in 2026. My research is driven by a fundamental curiosity about the urban: how cities come into being, what they produce, and how late urbanization—especially after 1950, in authoritarian contexts across the developing world—differs from earlier patterns observed in industrializing Europe and North America. This broad interest anchors both my empirical work and my theoretical orientation. 

My dissertation and book project, From the Soil to the Sky: Collective Economy and Party-State Urbanism in Contemporary China, is an initial step in a broader research agenda. It seeks an explanation for why China could sustain rapid, conflict-prone urbanization without losing political control. Drawing on two years of comparative ethnography within rural-affairs bureaucracies in Shenzhen and Shanghai, I trace the evolution of land politics and collective property-rights regimes from the beginning of Reform and Opening Up through the Xi era. You can find more about this project here. 

I believe that the most powerful insights often emerge through comparison and interdisciplinary conversation, and I strive to remain intellectually omnivorous. While my research centers on urbanization and political governance, I have also collaborated with colleagues on projects ranging from the sexual practices of older adults on antiretroviral treatment in rural South Africa to the use of computer-assisted text classification in qualitative research. My work has been published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Social Science & Medicine, and World Architecture Review. You can find more about my published work here.