Shilin Fan is a PhD researcher in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on children’s geographies, health geographies, and therapeutic landscapes, particularly how outdoor environments and design interventions can support children’s wellbeing and play.
Before starting her PhD, she worked as a Lecturer at Shenyang Jianzhu University, where she taught landscape architecture and planning and supervised undergraduate projects. She has over six years of teaching and research experience, combining academic and professional practice.
She has participated in and led several real-world research and design projects. A representative example is the Shenyang China Resources Times Healthy Park Project, which delivered a large-scale public health-oriented park integrating therapeutic landscape principles into urban community design. In addition, she contributed to projects such as the Shenyang Imperial Palace Renovation Project, the Hangzhou Jindi Healthy Community Project, and the Community Renewal and Healthy Residential Demonstration Project in Shenhe District. Her work on therapeutic landscapes and healthy community renewal has received international recognition, including the Merit Award in the 2nd Asia Habitat Landscape Award (AHLA).
By integrating teaching, research, and practical design, she aims to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to understanding how landscape architecture and urban planning can create healthier and more inclusive environments for children and communities.