A native of China, Lanbin Ren had never heard of Oregon when she saw a poster advertising the University of Oregon’s brand-new PhD program in landscape architecture. She was about to graduate with a master of science in architecture from the University of Cincinnati, but wasn’t ready to leave academia. “I wanted to learn something new but still related to architecture, and I thought landscape could be an option, so I applied,” she says.

Accepted in 2007, in December 2012 she became the program’s first PhD graduate.

Ren came to UO to develop an interdisciplinary dissertation on the influence of “park-above-parking” projects on the vitality of America downtowns. UO Professor Rob Ribe, who served on Ren’s committee, lauds the results of her research.

"Urban planners and public officials often wonder whether it is a bad idea to waste valuable real estate on parks rather than taxable development,” Ribe says. “Lanbin is the first scholar I know of who has effectively assessed the economic development benefits of downtown parks. What is more, she has measured just how important the design quality of parks is in contributing positively and substantially to surrounding property values."

Ren’s dissertation, “Park-above-Parking Downtown: a Spatial-based Impact Investigation,” was based on a national inventory of urban parks built above parking structures downtown and how their design impacts economic development. She chose thirteen post-1990 case studies, including Union Square in San Francisco, Director Park in Portland, and Fountain Square in Cincinnati. She developed a ten-item design quality measurement index and a new set of methodology in economic impact assessments. Her research findings provide a new perspective on the evaluation of open space.

“Her research fills an important gap in the literature and certainly stands out as a successful model for evidence-based studies of the impact of urban design on the social and economic vitality of downtown areas in the U.S. and beyond,” says Assistant Professor Deni Ruggeri, landscape architecture PhD program director and a member of Ren’s dissertation committee. “It can also serve as a decision-making tool for cities like Cincinnati, which has expressed a deep interest in Lanbin's findings.”

Arriving at those findings involved many steps. Along with crunching numbers for the economic data, Ren traveled to each final study site. “I got to visit my case studies and that was a lot of fun,” she says. “I talked to the city, I talked to the design team, and I talked to park and parking users. I figured out if you have combined spaces you want to develop, follow this model because my research can help you. Evidence shows this type of project can barely generate sufficient revenue on its own. You have to update land use planning around the park-above-parking to make a package deal. I have numbers, how much it costs, how much it could benefit if you do things right.”

Ren calls herself “a practice-oriented person. I want to do research that helps decision-makers and designers so they can adopt it in their own contexts after the research.”

Ren currently works as a research associate in the Urban Design Lab at UO, helping Associate Professor Mark Gillem, who served as her adviser, teach a studio winter term. She has taught a number of other classes at UO to both graduate and undergraduate students. Due to her fluency in Mandarin, she was also tapped to work with a team of visiting Chinese architects during fall term 2012.

She says the level of training she experienced while a student at UO was “really impressive. PhD students have a lot of struggles over the years – the research doesn’t go anywhere, you wonder how can you do better. But every time I talked to Mark (Gillem) it was a very productive meeting. He encouraged me to take challenges and develop those into opportunities.”

Says Ruggeri, “I am proud to officially welcome Lanbin as a member of the community of urban design academics and wish her a successful future.” Echoes Gillem, “It was a pleasure to be her adviser and I look forward to working with her as she embarks on a teaching career.”