Publications
Stefan Al has authored or edited ten books on cities and the built environment, alongside scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals and popular writing for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Wired. For a complete list of academic publications and citations, visit his Google Scholar profile.
Books
His books have received multiple awards including the National Urban Design Award and Choice Outstanding Academic Title (Beyond Mobility), the Independent Publisher Book Award (The Strip), and a Gourmand Award (Macau and the Casino Complex). Reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Times Literary Supplement, and the Journal of Planning Education and Research, among many others.
DWELLING ON EARTH
The Past and Future of the Places We Call Home
W.W. Norton, 2026
SUPERTALL
How the World’s Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives
W.W. Norton, 2022
THE STRIP
Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream
MIT PRESS, 2017
ADAPTING CITIES TO SEA LEVEL RISE
Green and Gray Strategies
ISLAND PRESS, 2018
THE URBANISM READER
Design, Technology, Culture, and the Future of Cities
(with Tom Verebes)
Bloomsbury, 2026
BEYOND MOBIILITY
Planning Cities for People and Places
(with Robert Cervero and Erick Guerra)
Island Press, 2017
VILLAGES IN THE CITY
A Guide to South China’s Informal Settlements
(edited volume)
Hong Kong University Press, 2014
MALL CITY
Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption
(edited volume)
University of Hawaii Press, 2016
FACTORY TOWNS OF SOUTH CHINA
(edited volume)
University of Hong Kong Press, 2012
MACAU AND THE CASINO COMPLEX
(edited volume)
University of Nevada Press, 2018
Academic Writing
Book chapters
High-Density & Vertical Urbanism
“The Office Skyscraper”
Commonplace (Nos lieux communs)
“Hong Kong’s Transit-Oriented Podium Tower Developments”
Vertical Urbanism
“Efficient Urban Forms in the Pearl River Delta”
Energy Accounts: Architectural Representations of Energy, Climate, and the Future
“Bottom-Up Urbanism in China: Urban Villages and City Development”
Handbook of Bottom Up Urbanism
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Retail, Branding & Experience Design
“History of Retail Space”
Oxford Bibliographies in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
“Immersive Experience Design”
Virtual Interiorities
“Making Original Copies”
Real and Fake in Architecture Close to the Original, Far from Authenticity?
“The Million Volt Light and Sound Culture”
Themed and Immersive Spaces: Beyond Simulation and Authenticity
“Notes on the Society of the Spectacle/Brand”
The Handbook of Architectural Theory
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Climate Resilience
“Better Urban Design Can Help Curb Flooding”
Resilience Matters: Strengthening Communities in an Era of Upheaval
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Asian Urbanism
”The Hyper-Collage City: Public Space in the Pearl River Delta”
The Emerging Public Realm of the Greater Bay Area
“Urban Design Pedagogies in an Increasingly Globalized World”
Curriculum Design of English Urban Planning and Design Courses
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Informal Urbanism
”Spaces of Informal Production in China” (with Jonathan Bach)
The Design of Urban Manufacturing
“Researching Informal Settlements in Urban Design”
Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods
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Journal articles
Climate Resilience & Flooding
“Multi-functional urban design approaches to manage floods: examples from Dutch cities”
Journal of Urban Design
“Affordable Overnight Lodging in High-Cost, High-Need Coastal Environments” (with W. Riggs, W., Rugh, M. Sethi)
Journal of Local Environment
“A Pearl River Delta Special Ecological Area: Connecting water resources across political borders” (with Jason Carlow and Ivan Valin)
The Plan Journal
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Retail & Public Space
“How to save traditional shopping streets: the place attraction paradigm by Matthew Carmona”
Journal of Urban Design
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Asian Urbanism
“Urban Design in China: Where to Build, When to Build, What to Build” (with Jonathan Barnett)
Urban Design
For a complete list of academic publications and citations, visit Google Scholar.
Popular Writing
High-Density & Vertical Urbanism
Can Hong Kong, One of the World’s Densest Cities, Bounce Back From Covid?
The Wall Street Journal
The Concrete Jungle Is Turning Green Again
Wired
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Climate Resilience
A Resilience Checklist
Architecture Boston
To Curb Flooding, Improve Urban Design
Houston Chronicle
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Retail & Public Space
The Story of Retail is the Story of Urbanization. So What’s Next?
Brink Magazine
All under one roof: how malls and cities are becoming indistinguishable
The Guardian
The Mall isn’t Dead - It’s just changing
CityLab
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Architecture & Cities
How Robert Venturi Helped Turn Las Vegas Into America’s Architecture
Garage Magazine
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