Yehua Dennis Wei (Simplified Chinese: 魏也华, born in Zhejiang, China in 1963) is a Chinese-American geographer. He is a professor in the Department of Geography and a senior scholar in the Institute of Public and International Affairs at the University of Utah, and a visiting chair professor at East China Normal University (ECNU). His research has been funded by the NSF, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, National Geographic Society, Ford Foundation and Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). He has received awards for research excellence from the NSFC (Outstanding Young Scientist Award), Association of American Geographers’ (AAG) China, Asian and Regional Development and Planning Specialty Groups, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Education and career
B.S. Economic Geography and Urban Planning, Hangzhou (Zhejiang) University, 1984
M.S. Human Geography, Nanjing Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, 1987
M.A. Urban Studies, University of Akron, 1991
M.A. Geography, University of Akron, 1993
Ph.D. Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, 1998
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1997-2002
Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2002-2007
Professor, Department of Geography and Institute of Public and International Affairs, University of Utah, 2007–present
Awards and honors
Excellence in Research Award. Graduate School/University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundation Award in Recognition of Excellence in Research, 2003
Outstanding Young Scientist Award, Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Beijing, 2004
Distinguished Scholar Award, Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers(AAG), Chicago, 2006
Distinguished Service Award, Asian Geography Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers (AAG),Las Vegas, 2009
Distinguished Service Award, Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers (AAG), Las Vegas, 2009
Outstanding Service Award, China Geography Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers (AAG), Seattle, 2011
Books and Edited Volumes
Wei, Y.H.D. 2000. Regional Development in China: States, Globalization, and Inequality. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-22448-2.
Lin, G.C.S. and Y.H.D. Wei (eds.). 2002. Special Issue on China’s Restless Urban Landscapes I. Environment and Planning A 34(9): 1535-1660.
and G.C.S. Lin (eds.). 2002. Special Issue on China’s Restless Urban Landscapes II. Environment and Planning A 34(10): 1721-1831.
Weng, Q.H. and Y.H.D. Wei (eds.). 2003. Special Issue on Land Use and Land Cover Change in China. Asian Geographer 22(1-2): 1-142.
Zhou, Y. and Y.H.D. Wei (eds.). 2011. Special Issue on Globalization, Innovation and Regional Development in China. Environment and Planning A 43(4): 781-849.
Liefner, I. and Y.H.D. Wei (eds.). 2011. Special Issue on Globalization, Innovation, and Development. Erdkunde 65(1): 3-83
Wei, Y.H.D. and I. Liefner (eds.). 2012. Special Issue on Globalization, Industrial Restructuring, and Regional Development in China. Applied Geography 32(1): 102-184
Selected Journal Articles
Wei, Y.H. and L.J.C. Ma. 1996. "Changing Patterns of Spatial Inequality in China, 1952-1990." Third World Planning Review 18(2): 177-191.
Ma, L.J.C. and Y.H. Wei. 1997. "Determinants of State Investment in China, 1953-1990." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 88(3): 211-225.
Wei, Y.H.D. 1999. "Regional Inequality in China." Progress in Human Geography 23(1): 49-59.
Wei, Y.H.D. and C.C. Fan. 2000. "Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province." Professional Geographer 52(3): 455-469.
Wei, Y.H.D. and S. Kim. 2002. "Widening Intercounty Inequality in Jiangsu Province, China,1950-1995." Journal of Development Studies 38(6): 142-164.
Wei, Y.H.D. and W.M. Li. 2002. "Reforms, Globalization, and Urban Growth in China: The Case of Hangzhou." Eurasian Geography and Economics 43(6): 459-475.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2002. "Beyond the Sunan Model: Trajectory and Underlying Factors of Development in Kunshan, China." Environment and Planning A 34(10): 1725-1747.
Yu, D.L. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2003. "Analyzing Regional Inequality in China in a GIS Environment." Eurasian Geography and Economics 44(7): 514-534.
Wei, Y.H.D and X.Y. Ye. 2004. "Regional Inequality in Provincial China: A Case Study of Zhejiang." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 95(1): 44-60.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2004. "Trajectories of Ownership Transformation in China: Implications for Uneven Regional Development." Eurasian Geography and Economics 45(2): 90-113.
Wei, Y.H.D. and C. K. Leung. 2005. "Development Zones, Foreign Investment, and Global-City Formation in Shanghai." Growth and Change 36(1): 16-40.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2005. "Planning Chinese Cities: The Limits of Transitional Institutions." Urban Geography 26(3): 200-221.
Ye, X.Y. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2005. "Geospatial Analysis of Regional Development in China: The Case of Zhejiang Province and the Wenzhou Model." Eurasian Geography and Economics 46(6): 445-464.
Luo, J. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2006. "Population Distribution and Spatial Structure in Transitional Chinese Cities: A Study of Nanjing." Eurasian Geography and Economics 47(5): 585-603.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2006. "Geographers and Globalization: The Future of Regional Geography." Environment and Planning A 38(8): 1395-1400.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2007. "Regional Development in China: Transitional Institutions, Embedded Globalization, and Hybrid Economies." Eurasian Geography and Economics 48(1): 16-36.
Lu, L.C. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2007. "Domesticating Globalization, New Economic Spaces, and Regional Polarization in Guangdong Province, China." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 98(2): 225-244.
Yu, D.L., Y.H.D. Wei and C.S. Wu. 2007. "Modeling Spatial Dimensions of Housing Prices in Milwaukee, WI." Environment and Planning B 34(6): 1085-1102.
Miao, C.H., Y.H.D. Wei and H.T. Ma. 2007. "Technological Learning and Innovation in China in the Context of Globalization." Eurasian Geography and Economics 48(6): 713–732.
Wei, Y.H.D., C.K. Leung and W.M. Li. 2008. "Institutions, Location, and Network of Multinational Enterprises in China: A Case Study of Hangzhou." Urban Geography 29(7): 639-661.
He, C.F., Y.H.D. Wei and X.Z. Xie. 2008. "Globalization, Institutional Change, and Industrial Location: Economic Transition and Industrial Concentration in China." Regional Studies 42(7): 923-945.
Luo, J. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2009. "Modeling Spatial Variations of Urban Growth Patterns in Chinese Cities: The Case of Nanjing." Landscape and Urban Planning 91(2): 51-64.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2009. "China’s Shoe Manufacturing and the Wenzhou Model: Perspectives on the World’s Leading Producer and Exporter of Footwear." Eurasian Geography and Economics 50(6):720-739.
Wei, Y.H.D., Y.Q. Lu and W. Chen. 2009. "Globalizing Regional Development in Sunan, China: Does Suzhou Industrial Park Fit a Neo-Marshallian District Model?" Regional Studies 43(3): 409-427.
Wei, Y.H.D. 2010. "Beyond New Regionalism, Beyond Global Production Networks: Remaking the Sunan Model, China." Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 28(1): 72-96.
Wei, Y.H.D. and C.L. Gu. 2010. "A Study of Industrial Development and Spatial Structure in Changzhou City, China: The Restructuring of the Sunan Model." Urban Geography 31(3): 321-347.
Li, Y.R. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2010. "The Spatial-Temporal Hierarchy of Regional Inequality of China." Applied Geography 30: 303-316.
Wei, Y.H.D. and J. Luo and Q. Zhou. 2010. "Location Decisions and Network Configurations of Foreign Investment in Urban China." Professional Geographer 62(2): 264-283.
Wei, Y.H.D., J. Li and Y.M. Ning. 2010. "Corporate Networks, Value Chains, and Spatial Organization: A Study of the Computer Industry in China." Urban Geography 31(8): 1118-1140.
Li, Y.R. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2010. "A Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Health Care and Mortality Inequalities in Transitional China." Eurasian Geography and Economics 51(6): 767-787.
Zhou, Y., Y.F. Sun, Y.H.D. Wei and G.C.S. Lin. 2011. "De-centering ‘Spatial Fix’—Patterns of Territorialization and Regional Technological Dynamism of ICT Hubs in China." Journal of Economic Geography 11(1): 119-150.
Huang, H. and Y.H.D. Wei. 2011. "Spatial and Temporal Patterns and Determinants of Foreign Investment in China." Erdkunde 65(1): 7-23.
Wei, Y.H.D., I. Liefner, and C.H. Miao. 2011. "Network Configurations and R&D Activities of the ICT Industry in Suzhou Municipality, China." Geoforum 42(4): 484-495.
Wei, Y.H.D., D.L. Yu and X.J. Chen. 2011. "Scale, Agglomeration, and Regional Inequality in Provincial China." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (Journal of Economic and Social Geography) 102(4): 406-425.
Wei, Y.H.D., Y. Zhou, Y.F. Sun, and G.C.S. Lin. 2012. "Production and R&D Networks of Foreign Ventures in China: Implications for Technological Dynamism and Regional Development." Applied Geography 32(1): 106-118.
(with C. K. Leung) Collaborative Research: Business Organization and Network Relations of Foreign Manufacturing Ventures in the Yangtze Delta Region, China. NSF, 2001-2005.
Local Capitalism in China: An Institutional and Network Analysis of Private Enterprises in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. National Geographic Society, 2004-2005.
Globalization and Regional Development in the Yangtze Delta, China. Natural Science Foundation of China, 2005-2007.
(with Y. Zhou and Y. F. Sun) A Comparative Study of ICT Industry Development in the Beijing, Shanghai-Suzhou, and Shenzhen-Dongguan City Regions in China. NSF, 2006-2009.
Remaking the Sunan Model, China. National Geographic Society, 2008-2009
Remaking Development Models in China: Globalization, the State, and Regional Development. Ford Foundation, 2008-2011.
Urban Land Expansion and Spatial Restructuring in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2011
