Yaming Xiao

• Ph.D. Student, Design and Planning, University of Manitoba.
• M.Sc. Landscape Architecture, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
• B.Eng. Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Agricultural University, China.

Yaming Xiao is a Ph.D. student in Design and Planning at the University of Manitoba. He holds a Master’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture, earned in Denmark and China, respectively. During his academic training, he focused on ecological design and urban regeneration strategies in the context of climate change.

Before undertaking his doctoral studies, Yaming gained extensive professional experience at leading international design firms, where he contributed to a range of large-scale urban development and park design projects across China. In these roles, he consistently emphasized climate-adaptive and ecological approaches, including the drainage master plan for Shanghai’s central district and the master plan for Guangzhou’s Nansha New Area, where he played a key role in incorporating sustainable and water-resilient solutions.

Yaming’s current research explores the role of urban parks in mitigating climate change impacts—particularly through water-resilient strategies. 

Yaming’s doctoral research examines how urban parks can serve as adaptive infrastructures in the face of climate change, with a particular focus on water-resilient strategies. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates landscape design, ecology, sustainability science, and risk management, he investigates two primary questions: first, how traditional engineering methods can be incorporated to support the resilience of urban parks, and second, how these parks can be adapted to the diverse disaster vulnerabilities of different social groups.

A key aspect of his research involves identifying solutions that guide the planning, construction, and retrofitting of urban parks to enhance local communities’ climate-adaptive capacity. Yaming aims to pinpoint interventions that address ecological challenges (such as flooding and stormwater management) while also improving social equity. Drawing on real-world case studies of newly built, renovated, and retrofitted parks in temperate urban settings, he seeks to generate evidence-based approaches that local governments and practitioners can use to create inclusive, robust, and enduring green spaces for diverse populations.

Advisor: Dr. Alan Tate

University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (2024)