Urban economic geography - In her doctoral studies, she investigated the role of foreign investment in urban economic growth and the development of Asia's new export-processing cities. Recently, she focuses on urban competitiveness in the context of the global economy and specifically studies interactions of the clustering of creative industries, urban policy, and urban outcomes.
Local innovation and university-industry linkage - She has recently begun to study how universities in China are building linkages with urban economies and reorienting priorities in research and knowledge tranfer. A major component is to analyze institutional changes within select universities and policy changes at local and national levels that have allowed more business engagement.
China's urban development - Her key interest has been to examine urban industrial growth from the perspective of economic geography and public policy. She also has been studying the pathway of China's largest metropolis, Shanghai, in becoming a key regional hub with a focus on the city's economic restructuring, urban regeneration, and infrastructure development.
Migrant housing and settlement - She has been exploring how the dynamic socioeconomic development taking place in China is affecting urbanization and urban form, paying special attention to migration, migrant settlement, housing and spatial segregation. This reseach has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation.