I am Fan Zhang with a doctoral degree in construction management and expertise in the health and safety resilience of urban buildings against disasters and innovative technologies for built environment. Currently, I am working at the Department of Building and Real Estate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as a research assistant professor. The Department of Building and Real Estate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University excels in the field of the civil engineering and the built environment, as evidenced by its 17th ranking in the QS World University Rankings 2025 by subject Engineering – Civil and Structural and Architecture/ Built Environment.

My research interest includes Urban disaster resilience; Urban safety and health; Cascading effects; Building evacuation; Sustainable built environment; Large Language Model; Geo-Knowledge graph; Digital and intelligent techniques; and relevant disciplinary research, aiming to significantly contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of “Sustainable cities and communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and “Climate action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. I have published more than 40 papers at the academic journals and conferences with total google scholar citations 260000+ (You can also use google scholar badge ).

🔥 News

2025.05: 🎉🎉 New research outcome of eye-tracking analysis for smart buildings is presented on the CIB WBC(World Building Congress) 2025, Purdue University.
2025.02: 🎉🎉 New research outcome of urban building resilience is published on the Top-tier journal “Environmental Impact Assessment Review”.😍

📖 Education

2015.03 - 2019.09, Management science and engineering (construction management), School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University.🇨🇳
2017.01 - 2017.12, Construction management, School of Construction Management, University of Florida.🇺🇸
2013.08 - 2014.11, Construction management, Department of Architectural and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong.🇭🇰
2009.09 - 2013.06, Engineering management (minor in Accounting), School of Management, Shandong University. 🇨🇳

👩‍🏫 Teaching & Supervision

Subject leader/lecturer

BRE 4291 Real Estate Marketing
BRE 440 Cost and Value Management
BRE 258 Industrial Safety
BRE 533 Value Management for Construction and Property
Visiting lecturer
2024 summer term, Real Estate Economics, School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University
2016 fall, Architectural Economy (overseas students), School of Architecture, Southeast University
Mentor
BRE 365 International Study (Italy study tour)
BRE 505 Professional Workshop and Project
Supervisor
BRE 466 Capstone project (2023-2024: 8; 2024-2025: 4)
Research assistants: 5
PhD student: 1 (co-supervision with Prof. Albert P.C. Chan)
Postdoctoral fellow: 1 (co-supervision with Prof. Albert P.C. Chan)
General university requirement (GUR) advisor
2023-2024: 116 undergraduate students
2024-2025: 202 undergraduate students
Teaching assistant
BRE350 Project Management and Procurement

🛠️ Projects

2023.09 - now, Developing and promoting intelligent building retrofit schemes for older persons: from the perspective of “double ageing” dilemma, HKD 1,000,000, PI;
2023.08 - now, Developing and promoting building health resilience in high-density cities: Rethinking the development of healthy building in the post-pandemic era, HKD 600,000, PI;
2022.04 - 2023.05, Evaluating and Promoting Healthy Residential Buildings for Aged Residents through Smart Approaches in High-Density Cities, HKD 828,470, PI;

📝 Publications

Journal articles

Tianlong Shan, Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Shiyao Zhu, Kaijian Li, Yifan Wu. Exploring influencing factors of health resilience for urban buildings by integrated CHATGPT-empowered BERTopic model: a case study of Hong Kong [J]. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2025, 112: 107852. (SSCI, Q1, IF 9.8)
Yifan Wu, Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Dezhi Li. Sentiment Evolution of Online Public Opinion for Safety Emergency Incidents of Railway Stations by Developing Optimized Bounded Confidence Model: A Case Study of Wuhan Railway Stations under COVID-19 [J]. Sustainability, 2025, 17(2), 613. (SCI, Q2, IF 3.2)
Linyan Chen, Amos Darko, Fan Zhang, Albert P. C. Chan, Qiang Yang*. Using Large Language Models to Improve Challenges Assessment in Existing Office Building Energy Retrofits [J]. Building and Environment, 2025, 276:112891. (SCI, Q1, IF 7.1)
Wenque Liu*, Albert P.C. Chan, Amos Darko, Fan Zhang, Man Wai Chan, Michael A Adabreand. Identification and Assessment of Quantitative Metrics for Measuring Emergency Healthcare Project Performance [J]. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 2025. (SCI&SSCI, Q1, IF 3.6) (Pre-print)
Peng Cui*, Saiya Cao, Ruize Qin, Fan Zhang. Development of a data-driven urban immunity assessment model: Providing a new benchmark for urban governance under public health emergencies [J]. Frontiers in Public Health, 2025. (SSCI/SCI, Q1, IF 3) (Accept)
Peng Yan, Fengmin Zhang, Fan Zhang, Linna Geng*. A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework of Urban Infrastructure Cascade Disaster Using Scientometric Methods [J]. Buildings, 2025, 15(7):1011. (SCI, Q2, IF 3.1)
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Linyan Chen, Dezhi Li, Peng Cui. Metrics and approaches for building health resilience in the pandemic prevention and control: a case study of Hong Kong public housing [J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2024, 103: 104343. (SCI, Q1, IF 4.2)
Shiyao Zhu, Haibo Feng*, Mehrdad Arashpour, Fan Zhang. Enhancing urban flood resilience: a coupling coordinated evaluation and geographical factor analysis under SES-PSR framework [J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2024, 101: 104243. (SCI, Q1, IF 4.2)
Zhiyu Dong, RuiQining Zou, Xin Yao, Fan Zhang, Yizhou Yang, Peng Cui*. Occupational health risk assessment of PC production-caused pollution based on Damage Assessment and Cyclic Mitigation model [J]. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, ahead-of-print, 2024. (SCI&SSCI, Q1, IF 3.6)
Ruize Qin, Peng Cui*, Shenghua Zhou, Fan Zhang. Dynamic Analysis for Enhancing Urban Resilience Against Public Health Emergencies of International Concern [J]. Land, 2024, 13(12), 2220. (SCI, Q2, IF 3.2)
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Dezhi Li. Developing smart building solutions to reduce indoor risks of the elderly: A systematic-bibliometric analysis [J]. Safety Science, 2023, 168: 106310. (SCI, Q1, IF 4.7)
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Dezhi Li. Evaluating building egress safety for the elderly under different urgent-level circumstances in high-density cities: based on ABEM-enabled simulation [J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2023, 87:103587. (SCI, Q1, IF 4.2)
Fan Zhang, Albert P.C. Chan, Amos Darko, Zhengyi Chen*, Dezhi Li. Integrated applications of building information modeling and artificial intelligence techniques in the AEC/FM industry [J]. Automation in Construction, 2022, 139:104289. (SCI, Q1, IF 9.6)
Edmond Lam*, Fan Zhang, Jessie Ho. Analyzing the effectiveness and advancements of current heritage revitalization on community planning: A case study of Hong Kong [J]. Buildings, 2022, 12(8):1065. (SCI, Q2, IF 3.1)
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Amos Darko, Dezhi Li. BIM-enabled multi-level assessment of age-friendliness of urban housing based on multiscale spatial framework: enlightenments of housing support for “aging-in-place” [J]. Sustainable Cities and Society, 2021, 72:103039. (SCI, Q1, IF 10.5)
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan, Amos Darko, Dezhi Li. Predicting the elderly’s quality of life based on dynamic neighborhood environment under diverse scenarios: an integrated approach of ANN, scenario analysis and Monte Carlo method [J]. Habitat International, 2021, 113:102373. (SSCI, Q1, IF 6.5)
Fan Zhang*, Dezhi Li, Albert P. C. Chan. Diverse contributions of multiple mediators to the impact of perceived neighborhood environment on the overall quality of life of community-dwelling seniors: a cross-sectional study in Nanjing, China [J]. Habitat International, 2020, 104:102253. (SSCI, Q1, IF 6.5)
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*, Sherry Ahrentzen, Haibo Feng. Exploring urban neighborhood environmental factors affecting quality of life of older adults based on SLR-ISM method [J]. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 2020, 35(1): 215-242. (SSCI, Q2, IF 1.8)
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*, Sherry Ahrentzen, Jiankun Zhang. Spatial disparities of accessibility to community-based service resources for Chinese older adults based on travel behavior: A city-wide study of Nanjing [J]. Habitat International, 2019, 88:101984. (SSCI, Q1, IF 6.5)
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*. How the urban neighborhood environment influences the quality of life of Chinese community-dwelling older adults: An influence model of “NE-QoL” [J]. Sustainability, 2019,11(20), 5739. (SCI&SSCI, Q2, IF 3.3)
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*. Multiple linear regression-structural equation modeling based development of the integrated model of perceived neighborhood environment and quality of life of community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study in Nanjing, China [J]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019, 16(24), 4933.
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*, Jiankun Zhang. Financial Balance Analysis of Community-based Care Facilities Based on Sustainability [J]. Modern Urban Research, 2019, 34(02):8-14. (CSSCI&PKU, in Chinese)
Fan Zhang*, Chunjie Zhang. Discussion on the Suitability of Sponge Transformation of Existed Community [J]. Construction Economy, 2019, 40(02):101-105. (PKU, in Chinese)
Fan Zhang*, Chunjie Zhang. Discussion on Intensive Design of Sponge Transforming of Existing Community [J]. Construction Economy, 2018, 39(10):102-105. (PKU, in Chinese)
Fan Zhang*, Chunjie Zhang. Discussion on the Approaches of Existing Community Sponge Type Transforming: A Case Study of Existing Community on Junxu Road of Liaocheng[J]. Construction Economy, 2018, 39(09):112-115. (PKU, in Chinese)
Chunjie Zhang*, Yanfa Tian, Fan Zhang. Analysis of the Design of Utility Tunnel in Liaocheng City[J]. Water & Wastewater Engineering, 2018, 54(04):114-118. (CSCD&PKU, in Chinese)
Fan Zhang*, Jiankun Zhang, Yichang Wu. Research on Driving Force of Transformation Development of Chinese Public Housing [J]. Construction Economy, 2017, 38(07):49-52. (PKU, in Chinese)
Fan Zhang*, Jiankun Zhang, Yichang Wu. Research on the Dynamic Development Trajectory of Public Housing and Its Inspiration: A Case Study of Nanjing [J]. Construction Economy, 2017, 38(05):59-63. (PKU, in Chinese)

Conference papers

Tianlong Shan, Fan Zhang*, Albert P.C. Chan. A GraphRAG-based Chatbot Design for Coping with Cascading Disasters Effects on Human-centric Urban Resilience. ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering (i3CE 2025). (Accepted)
Fan Zhang*, Yixin Tong, Tiantian Gu, Hao Wu, Yibo Qiang, Linyan Chen, Albert P. C. Chan. Smart building retrofitting acceptance model (SBRAM): a new angle of optimizing smart retrofitting of aged residential buildings. World Building Congress (WBC) 2025. (Accepted)
Linyan Chen*, Amos Darko, Albert P. C. Chan, Fan Zhang. GenAI for Building Energy Efficiency. World Building Congress (WBC) 2025. (Accepted)
Tiantian Gu*, Xuanran Yi, Hongtu Yan, Fan Zhang. Identification of Residents’ Engagement Profiles in the Sponge-style Old Community Renewal through Cluster Analysis: A Case Study of Shanghai, China. World Building Congress (WBC) 2025. (Accepted)
Tianlong Shan, Fan Zhang*, Albert P.C. Chan. Developing knowledge graph for understanding building health resilience: Ontology design and CHATGPT-based knowledge extraction [C]. The 24th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR), 2024.
Fan Zhang*, Albert P. C. Chan. Automatic identification of indoor movement pattern of older adults living alone at smart homes: rethinking in the post-COVID era [C]. The 46th Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) 2023 Conference, 2023.
Fan Zhang*, Albert P.C. Chan. ABEM-based Simulation of Building Egression Safety for the elderly under different circumstances: Enlightenments of healthy residential buildings [C]. World Building Congress (WBC) 2022, 2022, 1101(2):022055. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, IOP Publishing.
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*. Conceptual model among neighborhood environment, personal competence, and quality of life of older adults aging in place: Based on “the Ecological Theory of Aging” [C]. Construction Research Congress (CRC) 2020, 2020, 982-991. (CPCI&ASCE)
Fan Zhang, Dezhi Li*. How urban neighborhood environment affects quality of life of older adults: Enlightenments for supporting “Aging in Place” [C]. 2019 International Conference on Construction and Real Estate Management (ICCREM), 2019, 562-569. (EI&ASCE)

Book

Fan Zhang, Linyan Chen, Lichininikesha Weerasinghe, Kasun Thanaweera Achchige Don, Albert P.C. Chan*, Stakeholder management in construction in developing countries [B], Research Companion to Construction in Developing Countries (Editor Prof. George Ofori), 2024, Edward Elgar Publishing. (final confirmation)

🎖 Honors and Awards

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💬 Invited Talks

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💻 Internships

2019.05 - 2020.02, Lorem, China.

Fan Zhang