The Lincoln Institute Announces Recipients of the 2025–26 International Research for the Study of China’s Urban Development and Land Policy Program

CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has announced three individuals are receiving a research commission for the 2025–26 International Research for the Study of China’s Urban Development and Land Policy program.  The recipients are based outside mainland China and each received $35,000 to fund their research. This year’s recipients—Maurizio Marinelli, Andrew Waxman, and Fangxin Yi—submitted proposals for academic and policy research papers addressing land, urban, fiscal, and environmental issues relating to urbanization in China.  

Maurizio Marinelli is a professor of China and Global Prosperity at University College London’s Institute for Global Prosperity. His project, “Urban Regeneration of Historical Street Markets in Hong Kong: The Role of Community Engagement in Socio-Spatial Reconfiguration,” examines the socio-spatial politics of land redevelopment and displacement in Hong Kong through the lens of street markets. The goal of this research is to find and promote community-led solutions that help cities ethically navigate economic instability. 

Andrew Waxman, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, submitted “A Long Way from Home: Migration and Commuting in Urban China.” In this project, Waxman studies how high-speed rail (HSR) affects commuting, housing costs, and wage disparities. His research aims to provide policy guidance to enhance economic access for underserved workers and regions. 

Fangxin Yi, a research assistant professor at the Division of Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, examines what links fiscal decentralization, regional inequality, and land-centered urbanization in China since the 1994 Tax-Sharing Reform. Her project, “Fiscal Decentralization and the Strategic Embedding of Land-Centered Urbanization: Three Decades Under the Tax-Sharing System,” seeks to understand the effects of decentralizing tax revenue collection and rebalancing spending responsibilities between the central and local governments. 

“The purpose of this program is to promote international scholarly dialogue on China’s urban development and land policy,” said Zhi Liu, the program’s director. “The development of this program will aid in the Lincoln Institute’s objective to advance land policy solutions to economic, social, and environmental challenges.” 

The International Research for the Study of China’s Urban Development and Land Policy program accepts applications from academic researchers working on the following topics in China: land use, carbon neutrality, and spatial planning and governance; urban regeneration; municipal finance and land value capture; impacts of new urbanization; land policies; housing policies; urban environment and public health; and land and water conservation. The program is offered annually by the Lincoln Institute, and applications for the 2026–27 cycle will open in fall 2025.