Neighbourhood Regeneration Research Articles

“Co-production” as an alternative in post-political China? Conceptualizing the legitimate power over participation in neighborhood regeneration practices

Drawing upon recent post-political critiques on ineffective participation and urban planning, this paper reflects on the challenges facing participatory and collaborative planning in China's latest neighborhood regeneration practices. In 2017, Guangzhou launched a new micro-scale neighborhood regeneration program that shifted the discursive emphasis on participatory planning while China strives to create a new national image of a “people's city”. This paper critically examines the implementation of old community renovation policies in 32 Chinese provinces and 776 neighborhood regeneration projects in Guangzhou. By examining the objectives and outcomes of legitimate power over participation, we uncover institutional conditions, implementation issues, and local responses in different participatory planning configurations. We found that a “co-production” model emerged in China, highlighting the role of institutionalized participatory planning activities. The conclusion is threefold: 1) Shared objectives in the emerging neighborhood regeneration discourse constitute legitimate power over participation in China's neighborhood regeneration; 2) The outcomes of legitimate power over participation are reflected in the local responses to the “co-production” activities; and 3) The “co-production” model—to produce planning schemes through co-design and joint-negotiation among multi-scalar actors including planners and residents—performs as an alternative to immature collaborative planning in China. Local governments can skillfully avoid direct confrontations with residents by introducing the function of community planners. These institutional arrangements of “co-production” have profoundly impacted the reshuffling of the state-society relationship in post-political China. While the implementation of China's latest neighborhood regeneration policy shows post-political risks in terms of depoliticized narratives, instrumentalized planning strategies, and technicized planning tools, we find “co-production” to be fruitful in promoting substantive participation and stimulating the accumulation of local knowledge.

Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect framework of residents' responses to urban neighborhood regeneration: The case of Shanghai, China

Neighborhood regeneration (NR) improves the living quality and environment of urban areas through the rehabilitation or renovation of dilapidated neighborhoods. In the current Chinese context, the NR is mostly dependent on governmental planning and funding. But due to the limitation of time and resources, it is impossible for the government to propose and dominate NR in every single dilapidated neighborhood. Therefore, promoting resident-initiated NR projects is an essential strategy for improving citizens' wellbeing and meeting the requirements of sustainability. However, in the dilapidated neighborhoods, the residents' cooperation in NR is not simply relied on their discourse power. Their choices of responses may be strongly influenced by various factors. Nevertheless, there have been few studies that examined the residents' choices of responses in NR. By adopting the “exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect (EVLN)” framework, this research aims to investigate how the relevant elements, including the perceived impact of NR, social capital, neighborhood environment, and residents' dependency, can influence residents' choice of responses. Two old neighborhoods in Shanghai were selected as the case study area. The data is collected through a questionnaire survey. The principal component analysis and multiple regression techniques are utilized to unveil the mask of their intrinsic relationship. The empirical results suggest how the above elements have impacted the residents' responses to NR to a certain extent. Notably, several key findings were revealed from the results. The residents with high-level dependency, perceived high-level social capital, and strong impact of NR are more likely to choose voice response. The low-level dependency, perceived poor neighborhood quality, and low social capital lead to the residents' exit choice. And the response of loyalty/neglect is due to the perceived good living environment, low-level social capital, and the ignorance of NR impact on their lives. Finally, some policy implications were drawn to promote the residents' active and positive action in initiating NR projects in their dilapidated neighborhoods.

Contradictions of indigenous cognition and heritage evaluation under political transformations in a working-class community in Tianjin, China

Over the past few decades, China has undergone thorough reforms. Changes triggered by deindustrialization, market orientation, and land utilization have led to the demolition, replacement, and regeneration of traditional industrial neighborhoods in urban centers. Meanwhile, the indigenous residents, who used to be members of the working class in the Danwei era, have lost the protection of state-owned enterprises, or “Danwei”, and suffered from social disparity, displacement, identity loss, and trauma amid the socialist deindustrialization process. As a socialist country dedicated to regulating overcapitalization and social polarization, neoliberal China has been committed to exploring moderate social transformation strategies in the process of deindustrialization in recent years. In the given example of Tianjin's Mian 3 (an urban regeneration project of an old textile industrial community), both qualitative and quantitative analyses are employed to evaluate the cognitive complexities of residents' needs and place attachment in relation to heritage evaluation. The results from these analyses are further used to examine the problems in the redevelopment of industrial heritage communities and the social expression of the working class. The research shows that the cognitive complexity of the working class should be included in the social value of industrial heritage protection and given more importance in the process of coordinating the development of industrial heritage and its surroundings. In the context of ongoing deindustrialization and urban redevelopment of industrial heritage communities in China and the rest of the world, this study provides theoretical support and data for understanding working-class residents and building sustainable and caring heritage communities.

Assessing urban adaptability: The key is in the land use plan

Urban adaptability describes the capability to adapt private and public urban elements to necessary changes resulting from technological development, policy transformations, environmental crises and changes in fashion and taste. This paper ties urban adaptability with urban regeneration. We hypothesize that the need for comprehensive institutional intervention, often in the form of a new overall plan, to process the regeneration of veteran residential neighborhoods, indicates an inherent, anti-adaptive component in their structure. Moreover, institutional regeneration plans contain, alongside physical improvements, an opportunity to reformulate urban connections and enhance the neighborhood’s shape, thus potentially transforming an anti-adaptive urban fabric into an adaptive one. The study shows that land use plans affect the degree to which neighborhoods are adaptable for years to come. Based on this, the research aims to develop an evaluation tool for assessing (anti)adaptability in urban regeneration plans, measuring the degree to which they enhance an existing urban structure and provide better chances for spontaneous regeneration in the future. The tool is grounded on analyzing three spatial layers: (A) street pattern, (B) built elements, (C) land use. We demonstrate the tool in five cases, comparing original neighborhood plans to regeneration plans of residential neighborhoods in five Israeli cities. The results show that it is possible to predict anti-adaptability and anticipate it as part of the planning process. However, we expose that not all regeneration plans utilize the opportunity to create a more adaptive urban fabric but keep producing the same anti-adaptive structure.

Obstacles to emancipation in neighborhood regeneration: The case study of Dong Gang New Town, Suzhou

In recent years a neighborhood regeneration policy has been implemented at the Chinese national level to tackle deprivation in old neighborhoods. This article elucidates neighborhood regeneration based on concepts of neighborhood, social innovative urban governance, and social capital using the case study of Dong Gang New Town in Suzhou Industrial Park. The findings show that the implementation of the neighborhood regeneration policy has no significant impact on the neighborhood governance. In addition, findings indicate that the regeneration process was not emancipated, although some of residents’ needs were met by the regeneration. The results also show that this is due to weak linking social capital among resident, non-government organizations and the local government. This article concludes with policy suggestions on local organizations’ role to improve neighborhood governance for better neighborhood physical environments in Dong Gang New Town

Promoting a city-river balance within neighborhoods in transition along the Rhone

Relationships between cities and their waters have always been evolving. In a context of transition towards sustainability, finding a balance between the urban and river spaces may contribute to the development of new resilient neighborhoods. To that end, a tailor-made multi-criteria evaluation method appears necessary to gather information not only on sustainability performances of neighborhoods projects but also on specific features linked to a balanced relationships between rivers and cities.On these observations, we develop the concept of city-river balance by focusing on the Rhone territory. It serves as a basis to design an innovative decision-support tool for comparing forward-looking visions for rhodanian neighborhoods in transition. First, this paper presents the methodological research approach taken to develop the tool. Then, it explains the structure and functioning of the tool, followed by a test application to a case study, the Jonction sector in Geneva, Switzerland. Preliminary results show that specific city-river balance components and indicators can explicitly be thematized and measured. Moreover, such a tool could unveil hidden potentialities and help stakeholders to make informed-decision through a resilient vision for the regeneration of rhodanian neighborhoods. In that sense, it promotes not only a transition towards sustainability but also the emergence of a city-river balance.

Promoting age-friendly community of support and care in Japan's aging neighborhood: The Nagayama model

Since 2007, Japan has been experiencing an aging and shrinking population as a consequence of rapid rate of aging and a persistently low birth rate. The impact of depopulation is apparent not only in rural areas, but also in new towns in the urban suburbs mostly built in the 1970 s to house the extensive flow of population to big urban centres. From the case study of a depopulated neighborhood in a new town in Tokyo suburb, this paper examines how the neighbourhood regeneration effort has resulted in a ground-up model of the community-based integrated care system promoting aging in place. Through fieldwork comprising participant observations and interviews, we examine the process and the neighbourhood services established that have led to the so-called ‘Nagayama method’. The involvement of multi-stakeholders from local government, non-profit and business sectors have shown concerted efforts in the care and support of older residents contributing towards a conducive environment for one to age safely and meaningfully in the community. In discussion, the case study is examined with reference to Fallov's concept of the ‘third way’ path in neighborhood regeneration recognizing the significance of local conditions and existing capabilities in contributing to the successful adoption of a ground-up system. By focusing on a depopulated urban neighbourhood through the lens of multi-stakeholders’ efforts in making a difference to the everyday lives of older adults in local community, the study brings attention to diversity in aging environments and implications for policy and practice for the Decade for Health Aging initiative.

Association Between Urban Regeneration and Healthcare-Seeking Behavior of Affected Residents: A Natural Experiment in two Multi-Ethnic Deprived Housing Areas in Denmark.

Area regeneration of deprived neighborhoods is being used to reduce health inequality, socioeconomic deprivation and ethnic segregation. This quasi-experimental study examines if long-term graded exposure to urban regeneration is associated with primary healthcare-seeking behavior among residents. We compared general practitioner (GP) contacts from 2015-2020 in two adjacent, deprived social housing areas, one exposed to area regeneration. Populations were into Western and non-Western males and females aged 15 years and older (N = 3,960). Mean annual GP contact frequency for each group were estimated and a difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis was conducted with adjustments for propensity scores based on baseline characteristics. GP contact frequency increased for all groups across time with a systematically higher level and faster increase in the control groups. In particular, the mean difference between the exposed and control area for Western women increased from -4.67 to -5.76 annual contacts across the period. The mean differences in contact frequency increased for all groups but results of the DiD analyses were insignificant. In conclusion, an increasing gap in GP contact frequency, with the highest levels in the control area, was observed for all comparisons across time. More long-term research is needed to understand how the increasing gaps evolve.

Urban regeneration through retrofitting social housing: the AURA 3.1 prototype

As a large proportion of housing stock does not meet the current demands for energy and comfort (leading to high levels of obsolescence and vulnerability), the annual rate of energy upgrades for the existing stock must be increased. The AURA Strategy is an intervention methodology which focuses on the regeneration of neighbourhoods or obsolete urban fabrics which suffer from high levels of architectural, urban and socio-economic vulnerability. Within this context, the AURA 3.1 prototype was developed for the Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 Competition. The project was based around a sustainable construction strategy for the urban regeneration of obsolete residential neighbourhoods, through the reuse of existing buildings considering Mediterranean climate and energy. The Poligono San Pablo neighbourhood was chosen as the case study. This article presents the main retrofit action: the juxtaposition on the existing building of a structural-architectural system which provides new technological and spatial features. Quantitative data regarding the validity and effectiveness of the AURA Strategy could be collected from the monitoring of the Pavilion prototype during the competition. Two first prizes were won in contests with on-site measurements: Comfort conditions and House Functioning. Third place was also obtained in the Sustainability contest, thus confirming the enormous possibilities the AURA Strategy has for sustainable urban regeneration in retrofitting social housing, within the limitations of the competition.

Sharing and Space-Commoning Knowledge Through Urban Living Labs Across Different European Cities

While the growing commodification of housing and public spaces in European cities is producing urban inequalities affecting mostly migrant and vulnerable populations, there are also manifold small-scale neighbourhood-based collaborative processes that seek to co-produce shared urban resources and contribute to more resilient urban developments. As part of the ProSHARE research project that investigates conditions in which <em>sharing</em> takes place and can be expanded to less-represented populations, we focus here on sharing and space-commoning practices within urban living labs. Considered multi-stakeholders sites for innovation, testing, and learning with a strong urban transformative potential, urban living labs have received increasing academic attention in recent years. However, questions related to whether and how labs facilitate processes of exchange and negotiation of knowledge claims and generate spatial knowledge remain largely unexplored. We address this gap by looking at the role urban living labs play in the regeneration of neighbourhoods, asking how sharing and space-commoning practices generate situated spatial knowledge(s) that can be used in planning processes, and what type of settings and methods can facilitate such processes. These questions are addressed in the context of four ProSHARE-Labs located in Berlin, Paris (Bagneux), London, and Vienna, drawing on a cross-case analysis of the functioning of these hubs, the research methods applied in each context, and on the translocal learning and possibilities for upscaling resulting from these parallel experiences.

Research on Antecedents of Residents’ Willingness to Cooperate in Urban Regeneration Projects: Based on an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) Model

Residents’ willingness to cooperate can contribute to the success of urban regeneration projects worldwide. However, limited research has explored factors determining residents’ willingness to cooperate with neighborhood regeneration projects. This study aims to investigate the influence of psychological factors on urban residents’ willingness to comply with neighborhood regeneration projects. To achieve this goal, the study extends the theory of planned behavior by specifying the effects of perceived benefit, perceived risk, and perceived fairness on residents’ compliance intention toward neighborhood regeneration projects. Data from 362 local residents (i.e., homeowners) in China were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results show that perceived benefit, perceived risk, and perceived fairness have significant effects on the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, which in turn enhance residents’ compliance intention toward neighborhood regeneration projects. In addition, perceived benefit and perceived fairness also exhibit direct positive effects on residents’ compliance intention. This study develops an enriched model to examine the forming mechanisms of residents’ compliance intention under the context of neighborhood regeneration. It also provides more insights to enhance the decision-making regarding strategies of urban regeneration toward better social sustainability. Specifically, measures should be implemented to increase residents’ subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and benefit perception. It is also recommended to foster a favorable attitude and to facilitate fairness perceptions of residents.

“It won’t work here”: Lessons for just nature-based stream restoration in the context of urban informality

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have been advocated for their potential to contribute to the making of sustainable and just cities. However, a growing body of research shows that NBS cannot inherently provide just outcomes and might instead (re)produce environmental injustices. This research explores NBS for stream/river restoration in ‘informal’ areas, showing how riparian margins have become spaces of conflict. It draws lessons from two linear parks integrated into neighbourhood regeneration strategies in São Paulo. Data were collected from household surveys and focus group discussions to examine local populations’ values towards stream restoration. They provide understandings of residents’ perceptions towards multiple health and safety risks and concerns over contested responsibilities, notably revealing that local preferences for stream burial have been shaped by persisting waste dumping issues. An environmental justice lens helps highlight the limited integration of plural social and cultural values into project plans. This further helps draw lessons on ways to address local conflicts and integrate multiple socio-environmental values into NBS planning, with support from policy tools that allow stronger community engagement. Findings also support the identification of justice pathways for NBS in informal settings. The analysis of material and interpretative human-environment relationships provides evidence of opportunities for NBS to be integrated into everyday uses of local space and pre-existing environmental caring practices. For this, communities need to have stronger influence over decisions affecting them. The research thereby demonstrates that NBS will only become a mechanism for ecological recovery with city-wide benefits if marginalised groups are better included in their planning.

Financial Support for Neighborhood Regeneration: A Case Study of Korea

This study examined the relationship between financial support and neighborhood regeneration in Korea. A questionnaire about neighborhood regeneration projects was administered to 175 Korean respondents in the regeneration field. Results found that the housing revitalization project needed more public funds than private funds for successful outcomes. The private sector participation project required public-private cooperation. The local economy vitalization project needed public funds to build infrastructure. The local living improvement project needed public funds for infrastructure. The local living network project could be led by public funds including the facility fund. The local economy operation project required public and private funds for local programs and facility support. The results offer the optimization of financial support efficiency by providing customized support funds for neighborhood regeneration projects.

Provincial performance assessment of neighborhood regeneration based on a super-SBM model and the Malmquist indices: A China study

Neighborhood regeneration (NR) has been recognized as a sound approach to deal with urban decay, improve citizens’ well-beings, and promote urban sustainability. Promoting NR and improving its performance is a global topic. In China, massive subsidies have been provided to stimulate NR projects. However, whether these subsidies effectively contribute to NR implementation by considering sustainability indicators has not been systematically evaluated. This paper aims to assess provincial NR performance in China by combining the Super-slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model and the Malmquist indices (MI). The study reveals that the NR efficiency in China was not high. The slow movement of frontier shift (FS) and the shortfall in expected social and environmental outputs are likely to be the main reasons for NR inefficiency. Further analysis shows there are considerable efficiency disparities between different regions. The performance evaluation results can contribute to providing guidance for policymakers on future NR planning and sustainable development. The mixed-methods that integrate NR characteristics proposed in this paper will also provide insights for future urban-related performance assessments.

Ambient loop district heating and cooling networks with integrated mobility, power and interseasonal storage

This paper describes a heat pump investigation for GreenSCIES (GS), a fifth Generation district heating and cooling (5DHC) network in Islington, London. The paper describes the GreenSCIES concept integrating Mobility, Power and Heat into a Smart Local Energy System (SLES). At the heart of the system is an ultra-low temperature ambient loop network, which permits bi-directional flow within the pipes to allow energy exchange between heating and cooling customers at different times and in different locations, depending on where demand is at any given time. An existing data centre provides the primary source of waste heat for the scheme. Heat pumps in distributed energy centres are utilised to amplify the temperature of the ambient loop to deliver heat in connected buildings. The energy centres integrate heat pumps with building-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and electric vehicle (EV) charging points. The paper provides an overview of the integrated SLES concept, focussing on the heat pump selection and the short and long-term thermal storage options designed for the scheme. The results show that even the smaller constructible ‘New River’ scheme will save 5,000 tons of CO2e annually. This will tend to 100% as the grid decarbonise further. Therefore, the GS SLES concept applied to urban areas could deliver significant carbon emission savings in the UK and elsewhere. Practical application: Project GreenSCIES, is a detailed design study to develop a Smart, Local Energy System (SLES) for a large community in the London Borough of Islington. Our consortium have developed an innovative SLES concept, centred around a fifth generation district heating and cooling network. The GS ambient loop systems have negligible losses and much greater efficiencies than traditional district heat networks. As recognised by the UK Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy, ambient loop systems should be considered where large-scale neighbourhood regeneration occurs. The proposed SLES concept applied to wider urban areas could deliver significant carbon emission savings in the UK.

Tradition-led regeneration of contemporary neighbourhoods’ spatial structures: A case study of Tehran City, Iran

Over the past decades, modernisation has been viewed by some as one of the greatest dangers to urban life, having altered neighbourhoods dramatically. The most significant problem is the destruction of traditional neighbourhoods. The authors propose that a viable solution to this problem is to regenerate the spatial structure of contemporary neighbourhoods using traditional styles and elements. The transition from traditional to modern society has created numerous styles and challenges in the Iranian urban landscape system; in particular, the city of Tehran is experiencing considerable changes in terms of visual appeal and connection to the environment. In this paper, the principles and models for traditional neighbourhoods in the city of Tehran were studied and grouped into three categories: form, function and meaning, as a guide to regenerate the spatial structure of contemporary neighbourhoods. Three neighbourhoods from different eras were selected: Oudlajan, Shahrara and Shahid Bagheri, from the Qajar period (1789–1925), the Pahlavi era (1925–79) and the modern era, respectively. Spatial models were extracted by analysing the traditional urban design of the city of Tehran in three time periods alongside patterns and principles used in the regeneration process. Following this, criteria and principles were proposed for tradition-led regeneration of the spatial structures of contemporary neighbourhoods by form (physical form system/urban landscape), function (land use system and activity/movement and access system) and meaning/perception (frameworks for public spaces).

The Future of the City in the Name of Proximity: A New Perspective for the Urban Regeneration of Council Housing Suburbs in Italy after the Pandemic

The concept of ‘urban proximity’, which has returned to the limelight with the promotion of the ‘15-min city’ developed and re-proposed for the post-COVID city, cannot simply be associated with the concept of physical proximity to the essential activities of daily life but must concern reinforcement of the social interactions that some places are able to activate better than others. This article focuses on the regeneration of Italian council housing neighbourhoods that lack relational proximity, even when functional proximity has been painstakingly achieved. It describes the fundamental steps of a working method that aims to strengthen the ‘relational performance’ of public spaces, using an interdisciplinary cognitive and assessment process and co-planning with the local community based on the issues of inclusiveness, safety, and climate vulnerability. The experimentation made in an economic and social housing district in a city in Central Italy revealed the need to ‘hook’ the space node onto the node of local capacities and resources, recognizing the local community as the bearer of desires, capacities, and planning will, capable of orienting and prefiguring the complex process of regeneration in the post-COVID city.

“Co-Production” as an Alternative in Post-Political China? Conceptualizing the Legitimate Power Over Participation in Neighborhood Regeneration Practices

“Co-Production” as an Alternative in Post-Political China? Conceptualizing the Legitimate Power Over Participation in Neighborhood Regeneration Practices

Co-design as a strategy to improve ecological awareness of communities

One strategy of communities to easily embrace ecological awareness is by involving directly in the improvement of their environmental quality. This paper discusses the case study research of the co-design process of the neighborhood regeneration project in Kampung Tongkol at the Ciliwung riverbank, Jakarta. This project is carried out collaboratively involving residents of the area and facilitated by ASF (Architecture Sans Frontières) Indonesia. The main important object of this regeneration project is the construction of a self-supporting sample house. This house aims as an ideal model which another neighborhood can replicate. Residents are directly involved in the organizing, the design process, to the construction stage. The primary purpose of regeneration is to improve the quality of the residential environment. The principles of sustainable design are employed as the main guidance from the beginning of the process. This study concludes that the final achievement of this project not only results in a higher quality environment but also raises the ecological awareness of the residents of the neighborhood.

Integrating support groups, an effective approach to regenerate historic neighborhoods of Iran Case study: Oudlajan Neighborhood, Tehran

Despite recent revitalization efforts, many of Iran’s historic neighborhoods have been gradually damaged and lagged behind the development of cities. The historical neighborhood of Oudlajan serves as a case in point. Using participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, and content analysis, this case study explores the neighborhood changes in Oudlajan both pre- and post- the implementation of revitalization plans. The results demonstrate a crucial need for sustainable and integrated urban regeneration through Oudlajan support groups—integrating their actions through the establishment of a local management entity as a part of the municipality, and placing them at the heart of policy-making, planning, and monitoring for Oudlajan. The proposed local management entity will coordinate the activities of NGOs, stakeholders, upper-level governmental organizations, and upstream managerial organizations needed for regenerating the neighborhood, as well as being involved in formulating, executing, monitoring, and revising the neighborhood regeneration plans based on the neighborhood’s social and economic capacities, and its values.