Youqin Huang
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 2001
MA, University of California, Los Angeles, 1997
BS, Peking University, 1992
About
Youqin Huang is the Associate Vice Provost (AVP) for Faculty Success and a Professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability.
As AVP, Dr. Huang oversees the appointment, renewal, and promotion of all non-tenure track faculty including Lecturers, Visiting Professors, and Professors of Practice, oversee university-wide and SUNY-wide faculty success programs (honors & awards), and develop and oversee faculty development programs (leadership training, new faculty academy). She also oversees Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Learning, and Online Education (CATLOE), UAlbany Showcase, the selection of the Grand Marshal and Commencement Speaker, and other areas related to faculty affairs.
With more than 25 years of service to the University, Dr. Huang’s previous leadership roles include Executive Director of the Confucius Institute for China’s Culture and Economy, Program Director and Chair of the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, and President of the Asian Coalitions of Professionals.
She has also served many leadership roles in her profession, including Co-Director of the Urban China Research Network and Chair of China Geography Specialty Group of American Association of Geographers. Her devotion to service has brought her a UAlbany President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement. and an Outstanding Service Award from both the American Association of Geographers and the Chinese Community Center of the Capital District.
Her research aims to understand how demographic shifts, socioeconomic transformations and public policies shape the lives of individuals and communities, especially marginalized populations, by focusing on three interrelated areas: housing, migration, and health and wellbeing, with a regional focus on China.
Dr. Huang has authored and edited 10 books and published numerous journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Huang has achieved national and international recognition for her scholarship and impact. She is ranked Top 0.5% of Scholars Worldwide by ScholarGPS and a Top 2% Most Highly Cited Scientist by Stanford University and Elsevier.
She has received many awards, including SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Scholarship & Creative Activities (2024) and UAlbany President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities (2023). One of her books received the "Outstanding Academic Title" by CHOICE, and another book is listed as “One of the Best-selling Regional Geography eBooks of All Time” by BookAuthority.
Research
Youqin Huang on Google Scholar
Research Interests
- Homeownership, housing affordability, low-income housing, housing policy, housing inequality, residential segregation, housing inclusion and exclusion
- Migration, migrant families, migrant housing, gender, migrant inclusion and exclusion
- Health disparity, subjective wellbeing, social and spatial determinants of health
- China
Grants/Funding
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Science Foundation (NSF) & American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
- National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC)
- Hong Kong Research Grant Council (RGC)
- Chinese International Education Foundation
- Confucius Institute Headquarter of China
Publications
Li, Y. and Huang, Y.*, 2025. Beyond Family Connections: The Sibling Effect in Internal Migration in the 21st Century China, Population, Space and Place, DOI: 10.1002/psp.70123
Han, S., Hartert, T., Zhang, J., Su, W., Wu, P. Huang, Y., … and Zhang, K.*, 2025. Energy Burden and Asthma Prevalence in U.S. Cities: An Emerging Socioeconomic Determinant of Health, Science of the Total Environment, 1000, 180371.
Han, S., Hu, M., Huang, Y., Zhang, M., … and Zhang, K.*, 2025. Energy Burden and Chronic Kidney Disease: A National Study in the United States, Environment and Health, June 13.
Han, S., Hu, M., Gao, X., Huang, Y., Guo, F., Shen, G., Wang, D., Lin, S. and Zhang, K., 2024. Energy burden and mental health: A national study in the United States. The Science of the Total Environment, p.176796.
Cao, Y.**, Yi, D., Huang, Y.*, Zhu, Y. 2024. Mismatches between the Supply and Demand of Public Rental Housing in Chinese Cities. Sustainability. 16(19):8358.
Huang, Y.*, Li, Y.**, Li, R. and Zhang, K., 2024. The Privilege of Working from Home and Health Disparities during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major U.S. Cities, Health and Place, 86: 103183.
Huang, Y.*, Li, Y.**, and Clark, W.A.V., 2024. Family Connections and Subjective Wellbeing in Transitional China, Journal of Happiness Studies, 25, 33.
Huang, Y.*, Yi, D. and Clark, W.A.V., 2023. Subjective Wellbeing in 21st Century China: A Multi-level Multi-dimensional Perspective on Urban-rural Disparities. Applied Geography. 159, Oct. 103071.
Li, Y.**, Huang, Y.*, Li, R. and Zhang, K., 2023. Historical Redlining and Park Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Three U.S. Cities: Evidence from Big Mobility Data, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, published online on June 24.
Cui, C., Yu, S.** and Huang, Y.*, 2023. His House, Her House? Gender inequality and Homeownership among Married Couples in Urban China, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning.134: 104187.
Li, R. and Huang, Y.*, 2022. COVID-19 Pandemic and Minority Health Disparities in New York City: A Spatial and Temporal Perspective, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, published online in Sept.
Huang, Y.*, and Li, R. 2022. The Lockdown, Mobility, and Spatial Health Disparities in COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of New York City, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 122, March, 103549.
Huang, Y.*, Li, Y.** and Clark, W.A.V., 2022. Families in Transition: Living Arrangements and Intergenerational Support in 21st Century China. Transactions in Planning and Urban Research. 1 (1-2): 115-134.
Huang, Y.*, and Ren, J., 2022. Moving towards an Inclusive Housing Policy? -- Migrants’ Access to Subsidized Housing in Urban China. Housing Policy Debate. 32 (4-5), page 579-606.
Xia, Y., Huang, Y.*, and Li, J.**, 2021. Urban Low-income Residents’ Employment Changes and Dynamics after Displacement in Nanjing, China (Nanjing shi dishouru jumin beipo banqianhou de jiuye biandong ji yingxiang yinsu), Scientia Geographica Sinica (Dili Kexue), 41(6): pp. 1050-1060 (夏永久, 黄友琴 & 李洁. 2021.南京城市低收入居民被迫搬迁后的就业变动及影响因素. 地理科学(06),1050-1060. doi:10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2021.06.014.).
Huang, Y.*, He, S., and Gan, L., 2021. Introduction to Special Issue: Unpacking the Chinese Dream of Homeownership, International Journal of Housing and Built Environment. 36(1), 1-7.
Yi, C., Ren, J.**, Huang, Y.* and Wu, S., 2021. Multiple Home Ownership during Market Transition in China: Longitudinal Analysis of Institutional Factors, Housing Studies, 37(9): 1711-1733.
Huang, Y.*, He, S., and Gan, L., 2021. Homeownership and Housing Divide in China: Introduction to SI, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 108, January 2021, 102967.
Wang, Y.*, Ren, J.**, Yi, C. Huang, Y. and Ma, X., 2021. The Temporal Change of Housing Inequality in Urban China, Housing Studies, 36(4): 544-566. Published first online on July 16, 2020.
Clark, W.A.V., Huang, Y.*, and Yi, D., 2021. Can Millennials Access Homeownership in Urban China? Journal of Housing and Built Environment, online first on May 14, 2019. 36 (1), 69-87.
Huang, Y.*, Yi, D., and Clark, W.A.V., 2021. A Homeownership Paradox: Why do Chinese Homeowners Rent the Housing They Live In? Housing Studies, 36 (8): 1318-1340. Published online in August 2020.
Huang, Y.*, Yi, D. and Clark, W.A.V., 2020. Multiple Home Ownership in Chinese Cities: An Institutional and Cultural Perspective, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 97, Feb. 102518. Published online first in Nov. 2019.
Wang, Y.*, Li, Y.**, Huang, Y., Yi, C., and Ren, J.**, 2020. Housing Wealth Inequality in China: An Urban-Rural Comparison. Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 96. Jan. 102428. Published online first in 2019.
Cui, C.*, Huang, Y., and Wang, F., 2020. A Relay Race: Intergenerational Transmission of Housing Inequality in Urban China, Housing Studies. 35(6):1088-1109. Published online first on August 7th, 2019.
Clark, W.A.V.*, Yi, D. and Huang, Y., 2019. Subjective Wellbeing in China's Changing Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Vol. 116, No. 34: 16799-16804. First published online on August 1. 2019.
Additional Information
Awards & Honors
Top 0.5% of Scholars Worldwide, ScholarGPS, 2025
Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Scholarship & Creative Activities, State University of New York (SUNY) System, 2024
President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities, University at Albany, 2023
Top 2% Most Highly Cited Scientist - Career Long Impact Award (1960-2023) (based on Scopus data), Stanford University and Elsevier, 2023
Top 2% Most Highly Cited Scientist in 2020, 2021 2022, 2023, 2024 (based on Scopus data), Stanford University and Elsevier
Lincoln Institute China Program International Fellowship, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2021-2022
"Extraordinary Support to Chinese Community, Chinese Community Center of Capital District of New York, 2021
"One of the Best-Selling Regional Geography eBooks of All Time,” BookAuthority, for co-authored book China’s Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic and Social Change, Roman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021
“President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement, University at Albany, 2020
Outstanding Service Award, American Association of Geographers (AAG) China Geography Specialty Group (CGSG), 2019
Outstanding Service Award, Chinese Community Center of the Capital District of New York, 2019
Service & Outreach
Co-Director, Urban China Research Network, 2021 to present
Vice-President (2021 to 2024), Board member (2014 to 2021, 2024), Research Committee on Housing and Built Environment of International Sociological Association
Standing Review Board, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, 2013 to 2027
Advisory Board, Center for Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, 2020 to present
Housing Policy Debate, 2022 to present
Transactions in Planning and Urban Research, 2021 to present
Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2020 to 2023
China Perspectives, 2018 to present
Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 2004 to present
In the News
New York’s Racial Homeownership Gap: A Q&A with Youqin Huang, Today at UAlbany, November 2023
Protests in China: A Q&A with Youqin Huang, Today at UAlbany, December 2021
Could We All Live Underground?, Flash Forward podcast, April 2021.
Americaville, Documentary, December 2020
Youqin Huang discusses effects of China's two-child policy, China Global Television Network (CGTN), July 2019
Interview appearances, The Schenectady Today Show, January 2019, March 2017
UAlbany’s Confucius Institute's Chinese Cultural Festival, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, September 2018
Amy Biancolli: Another Chance to Celebrate a Year, Times Union, January 2017
Beijing's Migrant Workers Are Still Living in Storage Basements and Bomb Shelters, CityLab (The Atlantic), November 2015
No urban life in sight for many of China’s migrant workers, China Economic Review, May 2014
Searching for the Mousetribe, in the Confucian City, Radio National, April 2014
No Quick Fix for Beijing’s Housing Woe, The Straits Times, December 2013
China’s Wild West, Foreign Policy, November 2011
Beijing starts gating, locking migrant villages, Associated Press, July 2010
Is China a Scapegoat for Problems within America's Manufacturing Industry?, WAMC, November 2007
Interview appearance, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, January 2006
Designers Find Poetry in a City of the Future: Architectural Firm in Schenectady Wins Bid to Plan Community in China, Times Union, February 2005