Zuo Zhang was a professor at the school of public administration, Central China Normal University, China. He received a B.S. degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. degree from the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). He was a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina, USA. His research interests include the management of urban housing and land and space utilization. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Applied Geography, Land Use Policy, Environment and Planning B. He was a member of the Geographical Society of China.