Zhenxing Wang
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Landscape architecture
Biography
Zhenxing holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Sheffield, where he completed the two-year professional programme at the Landscape Department. During his studies, he was awarded the best dissertation prize and received the Landscape Design Trust Management Scholarship for academic excellence and design innovation.
With six years of professional experience in government and independent practice, Zhenxing has worked as a civil servant in a planning bureau, gaining valuable insight into how policy and design shape the urban realm. He later established his own studio and guided students as a landscape design tutor, fostering creative and critical engagement with the discipline.
His research and practice focus on the intersections of landscape architecture, environmental psychology, and sustainability, with a particular interest in how design can bridge ecological knowledge, cultural values, and community needs in rapidly transforming urban contexts.
Thesis
Ground penetrating-radar, reptiles, and interviews to investigate landscape and planting futures in Melbourne General Cemetery
This thesis investigates Melbourne General Cemetery (MGC) as a multifunctional urban landscape, using a mixed-methods approach that combines scientific, ecological, and social perspectives. As burial landscapes, cemeteries involve not only the management of visible spaces above ground but also the hidden dimensions below, together with the emotional and spiritual experiences they embody.
The study maps subsurface structures with GPR to reveal how burial practices, soil conditions, and historic planting have shaped the underground profile. Reptile surveys assess the ecological potential of MGC, focusing on how vegetation, microhabitats, and maintenance influence biodiversity within a managed heritage site. Interviews with managers and local residents provide insights into governance, maintenance challenges, and community perceptions, with attention to restorative qualities and spiritual significance.
By integrating these strands of evidence, the research advances interdisciplinary knowledge on cemetery landscapes in Australia and reimagines them as living urban green infrastructure that can support sustainable planting futures.
Contact
- Email zhenxingw@student.unimelb.edu.au
- ORCID Profile ORCID