Yirang Lim obtained her Ph.D. at Erasmus University, Rotterdam in March 2021 with the thesis titled "Impacts of Smart City Development: Experience of South Korea." Her thesis studied the positive and negative impacts of smart city developments on economic, environmental, social, governance, and technological sustainability in Korean cities. Her thesis was published as three academic articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
Before her Ph.D., Yirang Lim worked as a junior researcher at Korea Research Institute for Local Administration and Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. 
She also holds two master's degrees in urban planning from Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Seoul National University. 

Yirang Lim's main research interest is sustainability transition in the built environment, specifically focusing on public management of infrastructure and spatial development projects. Climate change and rapid societal change call for a new paradigm in public management in the built environment, from a siloed and fragmented approach to an integrated and collaborative approach. Her previous research projects include the impact of smart city development on urban sustainability and identifying principles of co-governance to activate nature-based solutions.