DrPengyuan Liu (刘鹏远) joined UBDC in April 2025, and he is working as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Digital Planning at the University of Glasgow. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a committee member of the Geographic Information Science Research Group (GIScRG), and an Associate Editor for thejournal City and Environment Interactions. His expertise lies in quantitative urban geography, with a particular focus on Geo AI and urban digital twin research. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Leicester, UK.

Beforejoining the University of Glasgow, Dr Liu was a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher and Coordinator at Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore-ETH Centre. In 2023, healso worked as a Lecturer in Human Geography and Urban Planning at NanjingUniversity of Information Science and Technology. His academic journey furtherincludes postdoctoral research experience at the Urban Analytics Lab, NationalUniversity of Singapore and the University of Helsinki.

Dr Liu is passionate about integrating geospatial analytics, artificial intelligence, and digital twins into urban studies. His work focuses on developing theories, algorithms, and models that advance this integration and support more intelligent, sustainable, and human-centred urban environments.

Heis also an advocate for open data initiatives in academia. He has contributed to the organisation of international academic conferences for OpenStreetMap, including the 2022 State of the Map Academic Track and 2023 OSM Science. Throug hhis research, teaching, editorial work, and international academic service, Dr Liu aims to foster innovation in urban studies and contribute to the development of smarter and sustainable cities.

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