Zhang, Yi and Jia Miao. 2025. “From disorder to distress: Investigating neighborhood change and mental health with Streetview and longitudinal survey data” Social Science & Medicine Volume 384, November 2025, 118589.
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Jia Miao
Assistant Professor of Sociology, NYU Shanghai
About Me
Hi, I’m Jia Miao (缪佳), an Assistant Professor of Sociology at NYU Shanghai. My research examines how China’s rapid urban transformation shapes social cohesion, socio-spatial inequality, and individual well-being. I am especially interested in how neighborhood environments and family contexts influence people’s lives across the life course. A significant part of my work also explores the social consequences of homeownership in Chinese cities.
Methodologically, I use a combination of experimental designs, large-scale survey data, GIS, computational approaches, and statistical modeling to investigate questions in urban sociology, neighborhood effects, and population aging. My recent publications appear in Social Forces, Social Science & Medicine, Chinese Sociological Review, Health & Place, and Sociology Compass.
At CASER, I work closely with colleagues and students on interdisciplinary projects related to neighborhood disorder, civic infrastructure, family dynamics, early childhood development, and aging and health. I am also deeply committed to teaching and mentorship. In courses such as Methods for Social Research, Population and Society, and City and Society, I encourage students to engage with real-world social issues and to approach research with curiosity, rigor, and creativity.
Please feel free to reach out at jm9040@nyu.edu if you’d like to learn more about my work.
Neighborhood Effects
Zhang, Yi and Jia Miao (corresponding author). 2025. “From Disorder to Distress: Investigating Neighborhood Change and Mental Health with Streetview and Longitudinal Survey Data.” Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118589
Zeng, Donglin, Xiaogang Wu, and Jia Miao. 2025. “Risk of exposure to COVID-19 and informal social control in an urban setting.” Social Forces. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaf067
Zhang, Yi, and Jia Miao (corresponding author). 2024. “Gentrification and Mental Health in Hong Kong.” Chinese Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2024.2445669
Miao, Jia. 2024. “Socio-spatial differentiation and residential inequalities in Chinese cities.” Sociology Compass 18(2): e13174. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13174
Miao, Jia, Xiaogang Wu, and Donglin Zeng. 2022. “Promoting ageing in place in Hong Kong: Neighbourhood social environment and depression among older adults.” Journal of Asian Public Policy. 17(1): 142-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2022.2040087
Miao, Jia, Donglin Zeng, and Zhilei Shi. 2021. “Can neighborhoods protect residents from mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from Wuhan.” Chinese Sociological Review 53(1): 27-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2020.1820860
Miao, Jia, and Xiaogang Wu. 2019. “Neighborhood, social cohesion, and the elderly’s depression in Shanghai.” Social Science & Medicine 229: 134–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.022
Social consequences of homeownership
Yin, Jun, Jia Miao (corresponding author), and Xiaogang Wu. 2025. “Homeownership and civic engagement in Hong Kong.” Social Science Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103257.
Haupert, Tyler, and Jia Miao (corresponding author). 2024. “Does homeownership improve health outcomes? Evidence from Hong Kong”, Cities. 155, 105441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105441
Miao, Jia, and Xiaogang Wu. 2023. “Social consequences of homeownership: Evidence from the Home Ownership Scheme in Hong Kong.” Social Forces. 101(3): 1460-1484. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac011
Chen, Wei, Xiaogang Wu, and Jia Miao (corresponding author). 2019. “Housing and subjective class identification in urban China.” Chinese Sociological Review 51(3): 221–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2019.1601012
Population, health, and well-being
Wu, Xiaogang, Xin Li and Jia Miao. 2024. “Early childhood development and social mobility in China.” ECNU Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311241240479
Chen, Wei and Jia Miao (corresponding author). 2023. “Does the internet moderate the neighborhood effect? Internet use, neighborhoods, and mental health among older adults in Shanghai.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(3): 2267. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032267
He, Dongsheng, Jia Miao, Yi Lu, Yimeng Song, Long Chen, and Ye Liu. 2022. “Urban greenery mitigates the negative effect of urban density on older adults’ life satisfaction: Evidence from Shanghai, China.” Cities. 124: 103607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103607
Miao, Jia, and Xiaogang Wu. 2021. “Subjective well-being of Chinese elderly: A comparative analysis among urban China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.” Aging and Society, 41(3): 686-707. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001272
Miao, Jia. 2017. “Birth weight, family socioeconomic status and cognitive skills among Chinese adolescents.” Chinese Sociological Review 49(4): 362–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2017.1311206
Miao, Jia, and Xiaogang Wu. 2016. “Urbanization, socioeconomic status and heath disparity in China.” Health & Place 42: 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.09.008
SOCS-SHU-141: Methods for Social Research
SOCS-SHU-265: Population and Society in China
SOCS-SHU-278: Finding Sociology in Chinese Cities: Shanghai and Hong Kong
SOCS-SHU-360: The City and Society
SOCS-SHU-375: Health and Society
SOCS-SHU-402 Social Science Capstone Seminar
Yin, Jun, Jia Miao and Xiaogang Wu. 2025. “Homeownership and political participation: The case of Hong Kong” Social Science Research https://doi.org/10.
Xiaogang Wu and Jia Miao 2025. Understanding Inequality in China: The Contribution of the Chinese General Social Survey. Taylor and Francis.
Zeng, Donglin, Xiaogang Wu and Jia Miao. 2025. “Risk of exposure to COVID-19 and informal social control in Hong Kong: the mediating role of social cohesion” Social Forces.
Haupert, Tyler, and Jia Miao. 2024. “Does homeownership improve physical health? Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Hong Kong.” Cities 155: 105441.
Zhang, Yi and Jia Miao, 2024. “Gentrification and mental health in Hong Kong” Chinese Sociological Review.
Xiaogang Wu, Xin Li, Jia Miao. 2024. “Early Childhood Development and Social Mobility in China.” ECNU Review of Education, 20965311241240479.
Miao, Jia. 2023. “Socio‐spatial differentiation and residential inequalities in Chinese cities.” Sociology Compass: e13174.
Wei Chen and Jia Miao. 2023. “Does the Internet Moderate the Neighborhood Effect? Internet Use, Neighborhoods, and Mental Health among Older Adults in Shanghai” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), p.2267.
He, Dongsheng, Jia Miao, Yi Lu, Yimeng Song, Long Chen, and Ye Liu. 2022. “Urban Greenery Mitigates the Negative Effect of Urban Density on Older Adults’ Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Shanghai, China”. Cities. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.103607.
Jia Miao, Xiaogang Wu. 2022. “Social Consequences of Homeownership: Evidence from the Home Ownership Scheme in Hong Kong“, Social Forces. soac011
Jia Miao, Xiaogang Wu & Donglin Zeng. 2022. “Promoting ageing in place in Hong Kong: neighbourhood social environment and depression among older adults” Journal of Asian Public Policy.
Jia Miao, Donglin Zeng, and Zhilei Shi. “Can neighborhoods protect residents from mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from Wuhan.” Chinese Sociological Review 53, no. 1 (2021): 1-26.
Jia Miao and Xiaogang Wu. 2019 “Subjective wellbeing of Chinese elderly: acomparative analysis among Hong Kong, Urban China and Taiwan” Ageing and Society, 1-22.