01
Urban Scaling & Spatial Structure
Examining how land values, accessibility, visitation, and urban functions vary across scales and reorganize city structure.
- Scaling laws
- Bid-rent theory
- Land values
- Spatial heterogeneity
Urban Planning & Spatial Data Science
Ji Eun Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Urban Planning and Design · Urban Systems Institute · The University of Hong Kong
I investigate the evolving dynamics of urban spatial structures through the lens of spatial scaling laws and data-driven urban economics.
About
Dr. Ji Eun Lee is an urban researcher whose work bridges spatial data science and urban policy. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Hong Kong, she investigates urban dynamics through urban economics, econometric models, and big data. Prior to joining HKU, she held a postdoctoral fellowship at the National University of Singapore and served as an Associate Research Fellow at the Seoul Institute, where she contributed to metropolitan zoning restructuring and balanced regional development plans. Earning her Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Engineering from Yonsei University, her doctoral research explored the effects of online shopping on urban spatial structures. Her ongoing research focuses on spatial scaling laws, urban spatial structure, and urban shrinkage, utilizing advanced methodologies like spatial econometrics and machine learning to inform sustainable urban systems. She actively translates her quantitative research into actionable urban policies.
Research
02
AI Urban Computing
Using machine learning and large-scale spatial data to measure urban dynamics and improve the evidence base for planning.
- Machine learning
- Big data
- GIS
- Spatial econometrics
03
15-Minute Cities & Accessibility
Calibrating proximity-based planning for sustainable, age-inclusive, and locally responsive access to daily needs.
- 15-minute city
- Age-friendly planning
- Accessibility
- Local living
04
Digital Markets & Urban Resilience
Tracing how online shopping, platform data, and pandemic policy change mobility, consumption, housing markets, and urban form.
- Online markets
- Pandemic policy
- Housing
- Spatial inequality
Selected Publications
Lee, J.E., Webster, C., & Kim, K. 2026. Bid-rent logic and city structure in the online shopping era Cities, 175, 107195 DOI ↗
Sun, G., Lee, J.E., He, D., & Webster, C. 2026. The value-capture paradox of metro accessibility and gated communities in China Urban Studies, 00420980261420975 DOI ↗
Lee, J.E., Lee, K.O., & Lee, H.J. 2025. Geographic restrictions in stimulus spending mitigated COVID-19 transmission in Seoul Nature Cities, 2, 969–979 DOI ↗
Lee, J.E. 2024. Analysis of Missing Data of Floor Area Ratio in Building Register and Proposed Solutions to Improve Data Quality Journal of the Korea Real Estate Analysts Association, 30(1), 7–19 DOI ↗