Liqun Chen is MCP student in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and TA. She is from Beijing but spent her first 16 years in a distant district, more like a small town outside of the central area of Beijing.  This is why she got mixed emotions about cities and eventually came into urban studies. Liqun got her Bachelor’s degrees in City Planning and Psychology from Peking University, where she developed a broad interest of study. She has worked for local planning management committees, landscape & architecture firms, planning institutes, transportation groups as interns or fellows in the years of her study. Now her study is focused on spatial analysis, land use, and civic data that could bring a more comprehensive meaning on the city and its residents.