Hanmin Gu (구한민/具漢玟)
Engineering Hall 1, Room A443, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea
Email: ghm21@yonsei.ac.kr | hmgu@khu.ac.kr | hmgu@mit.edu
Embedded Files
I’m Dr. Gu, and my work is guided by Good Urbanism (GU). I study how spatial structures, planning decisions, and public policies shape urban outcomes. Using large-scale urban data, spatial analytics, and quantitative evaluation methods, I examine why cities perform unevenly across space and how shocks or interventions produce heterogeneous effects. My research advances three areas: (1) how planning and development influence urban vitality and everyday experiences; (2) how policy interventions generate measurable spatial and social impacts; and (3) how real estate markets evolve through the interaction of land use, infrastructure, and institutional forces. Through this integrated agenda, I pursue what I call Good Urbanism: evidence-based approaches to building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cities.
Research Interests: Urban Planning, Urban Policy, Urban Development, Real Estate Markets, Urban AI
Professional Appointments
Research Professor
Institute of Engineering Research (Urban Planning)
University-Industry Foundation
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Visiting Scholar
Senseable City Seoul
Initiative of MIT and Seoul AI Foundation
MIT Senseable City Lab, Seoul, South Korea
Research Professor
Department of Smart City Planning and Real Estate
Graduate School
Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Engineering Research (Urban Planning)
University-Industry Foundation
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Visiting Professor
Department of Housing and Interior Design
Graduate School
Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
Lecturer
Department of Geospatial Information Science
School of Smart Systems Engineering
Myongji College, Seoul, South Korea
Lecturer
Department of Urban Planning and Engineering
College of Engineering
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Mar. 2026
– Present
Feb. 2026
– Present
Aug. 2025
– Present
Mar. 2025
– Feb. 2026
Mar. 2025
– July 2025
Sept. 2023
– Aug. 2024
Sept. 2022
– Aug. 2024
Education
PhD in Urban Planning and Engineering
Interdisciplinary Program in Smart City
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
· Dissertation: Toward Vibrant Cities: Evaluation of Multi-Scale Urban Planning Strategies
· Committee: Kabsung Kim (Chair), Ayoung Woo, Yunmi Park, Seungbeom Kang, Meen Chel Jung
BS in Urban Planning and Engineering
Minor in Political Science and Diplomacy
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Feb. 2025
Feb. 2019
Highlights
Mar. 2026
Selected for the Sejong Science Fellowship, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation, to lead a five-year research project as Principal Investigator on data-driven urban planning and urban AI, aiming to advance evidence-based urban planning research.
Aug. 2025
Field research was conducted in Hokkaido, Japan, with support from the Japan Foundation (Seoul). The visit included a meeting with the mayor of Yubari City to discuss the future of urban planning and provided key insights into the challenges and opportunities of post-industrial city revitalization.
Aug. 2025
Received the President’s Award in the Best Dissertation Competition at Yonsei University, South Korea. The doctoral thesis, Toward Vibrant Cities: Evaluation of Multi-Scale Urban Planning Strategies, was recognized for its academic excellence, originality, and scholarly contribution.
Mar. 2025
Research supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, was featured in a news report titled Was the Removal of the Transit Mall the Right Decision? The report highlighted the research findings on the consequences of lifting the transit mall policy in Seoul.
Dec. 2024
Successfully defended the Ph.D. dissertation, Toward Vibrant Cities: Evaluation of Multi-Scale Urban Planning Strategies, which provides a comprehensive evaluation of how urban planning interventions across neighborhood, district, and city scales can promote urban vitality and inform more effective planning practice.
Oct. 2024
Received the Minister's Award in the Academic Paper Competition on Urban Regeneration and Renewal, hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, South Korea. The award recognized the scholarly contribution of the paper published in Cities to advancing research and practice in urban regeneration policy.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse