I am Runlin Yang (Kelvin), a scholar in human geography. My research interests encompass urban agglomerations, regional geography, urban geography, and economic geography. I am particularly concerned with how human geography, as a discipline, can contribute to the pursuit of spatial equity and social justice in the emerging AI-driven era. Rather than approaching artificial intelligence as a purely technical instrument, I examine it as a transformative socio-spatial force that reshapes patterns of development, governance structures, and long-standing forms of spatial inequality. 

At present, my research is structured around two closely related theoretical trajectories. The first focuses on the decentralized restructuring of urban agglomerations, which critically revisits the agglomeration-centered development paradigm that has dominated urban and regional studies for decades. This research explores how AI-enabled practices—such as remote work, intelligent coordination, and digital infrastructures—may enable urban regions to move beyond excessive spatial concentration, thereby mitigating institutionally embedded spatial inequalities produced under highly centralized systems. The second trajectory is the development of the Space–Scene–Scenario (3S) framework, an integrative conceptual and methodological architecture designed to equip human geography with a discipline-specific research system suitable for the AI era. The 3S framework links spatial structures (Space), socio-technical practices and situated interactions (Scene), and future-oriented socio-spatial pathways (Scenario), offering a coherent lens for analyzing complex spatial transformations. 

Looking forward, my research agenda will increasingly concentrate on the theorization and empirical investigation of post–urban agglomeration decentralization and the continued refinement of the 3S framework. Empirically, I plan to employ large-scale spatial data and computational methods to examine the mechanisms and impacts of decentralization in AI-mediated urban and regional systems. Theoretically, I aim to further integrate the 3S framework with diverse subfields of human geography, with the broader objective of providing scholars with a rigorous yet adaptable analytical toolkit for addressing spatial challenges in an increasingly intelligent and uneven world. Full details of my research and publications can be found through the references provided on this website. 

If you are interested in my research and would like to explore potential collaboration, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I warmly welcome the opportunity to connect and exchange ideas.