Yihong Hu

As I lived in China, Tanzania, and Kenya, I enjoyed eating coconut rice with my neighbors in Tanzania, learning to cook Mandazi with my host family in Kibwezi village in Kenya, and wearing the sweater hand-knitted by my neighbor who watched me growing up in China. Because of these experiences with close communities, I sought to invest in the communities surrounding me in Chicago, to explore the unique relationship between place and people in the new, yet familiar city near my college.

During my time studying, interning, and later working with grassroots organizations in the city, I observed a new perspective on human flourishing that is grounded in relationship-building as an answer to socioeconomic and environmental brokenness: flourishing relationships between neighbors and places that motivate citizens to be empathetic and involved in the overall well-being of their communities. I believe being an urban planner is the most concrete way to strengthen and restore these relationships.

As an urban planner, I am interested in merging data and policymaking to build cities' resilience against the most pressing global challenges today. I am also a strong advocate for community empowerment, non-motorized mobility, and public space activation.

I LOVE birdwatching and non-fiction writing.