Urban Regeneration Strategies Research Articles

Community Quality Evaluation for Socially Sustainable Regeneration: A Study Using Multi-Sourced Geospatial Data and AI-Based Image Semantic Segmentation

The Chinese urban regeneration movement underscores a “people-oriented” paradigm, aimed at addressing urban challenges stemming from rapid prior urbanization, while striving for high-quality and sustainable urban development. At the community level, fostering quality through a socially sustainable perspective (SSP) is a pivotal strategy for people-oriented urban regeneration. Nonetheless, explorations of community quality assessments grounded in an SSP have been notably scarce in recent scholarly discourse. This study pioneers a multidimensional quantitative model (MQM) for gauging community quality, leveraging diverse geospatial data sources from the SSP framework. The MQM introduces an evaluative framework with “Patency, Convenience, Comfort, and Safety” as primary indicators, integrating multi-sourced data encompassing the area of interest (AOI), Point of Interest (POI), Weibo check-ins, and Dianping data. The model’s efficacy is demonstrated through a case study in the Gusu district, Suzhou. Furthermore, semantic analysis of the Gusu district’s street view photos validates the MQM results. Our findings reveal the following: (1) AI-based semantic analysis accurately verifies the validity of MQM-generated community quality measurements, establishing its robust applicability with multi-sourced geospatial data; (2) the community quality distribution in Gusu district is notably correlated with the urban fabric, exhibiting lower quality within the ancient town area and higher quality outside it; and (3) communities of varying quality coexist spatially, with high- and low-quality communities overlapping in the same regions. This research pioneers a systematic, holistic methodology for quantitatively measuring community quality, laying the groundwork for informed urban regeneration policies, planning, and place making. The MQM, fortified by multi-sourced geospatial data and AI-based semantic analysis, offers a rigorous foundation for assessing community quality, thereby guiding socially sustainable regeneration initiatives and decision making at the community scale.

Revitalizing urban spaces: Ten key lessons from the “Viaduc des arts” adaptive reuse and placemaking

This study focuses on the adaptive reuse and placemaking of the Viaduc des Arts, an obsolete viaduct in Paris, and examines its impact on the city's economic, urban, cultural, and sustainable identities. It aims to showcase unconventional solutions applied to create an elevated linear park and a coherent commercial identity under the vaults while enhancing the district's imageability and attractiveness.Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study analyzes various action modes in architectural and urban regeneration, highlighting ten valuable lessons learned from the Viaduc des Arts rehabilitation. These lessons provide crucial insights into effective urban regeneration and placemaking strategies, emphasizing the need to update objectives and employ appropriate methodologies for future projects. The Viaduc des Arts serves as a paradigmatic case study, demonstrating the successful transformation of an obsolete viaduct into a commercial, vibrant cultural, and urban space, underscoring the importance of updating urban regeneration objectives.

Opportunities for Biodiversity Conservation via Urban Ecosystem Regeneration

Conservation traditionally focuses on at-risk species and relatively intact ecosystems. As the human population and our global impact have risen, many more species and ecosystems are at risk and fewer intact ecosystems remain, with urbanization being a major contributing factor. Cities and their inhabitants are here to stay, and the prevalence of urbanization, often in the vicinity of areas of high conservation value, requires reconsideration of the conservation value of urban ecosystems and urban green spaces. Our aim is to explore the practical aspects of such actions. Urban ecosystem regeneration will require the incorporation of strategies for urban ecosystem regeneration into an overall conservation policy. The novel paradigm of urban ecosystem regeneration, advocated here, maximizes the capacity of urban spaces to support biodiversity while reducing undesirable outcomes and enhancing human wellbeing. The potential for cities to exacerbate biological invasion, climate change, and other ecosystem-degrading factors requires particular attention in devising a strategy for conservation in urban spaces, made essential by the predicted further spread of cities across the globe.

The regeneration policy and housing issue. The Italian case read through the history of Foggia (IT)

Urban regeneration is aimed at improving settlement contexts, and indirectly at solving the housing issue. In Italy there is no national regulation on urban regeneration, but many policies from 2000 up to now have resorted to it with the aim of intervening and containing the housing problem. The work examines the city of Foggia, in southern Italy, an area in a demographic contraction, but equally characterized by “high housing tension”, indeed there are numerous eviction proceedings, in the private and public sector of the house, and, as a consequence, phenomena of illegal occupation housing, abandoned buildings, informal settlements. The research will look at how in the last 20 years various national public funding (among these, the last PNRR—Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza derived from the Next Generation EU) and regional ones have resorted to urban regeneration strategies to address the problem, reporting failures, gaps and relevant issues.

Determinants of housing and environmental conditions in a medium-sized city in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study examined the factors influencing housing and its environmental conditions as well as the relationships between residential building types and their environmental conditions in Inisa, Southwestern Nigeria. Data were obtained through a questionnaire survey of 800 (about 10%) respondents using a systematic random sampling technique. Results indicated that there is a significant variation between building types and housing conditions (χ2=81.834, df=2, p-value=0.000); and between environmental and housing conditions (χ2=73.776, df=1, p-value=0.000). The study also found that four variables (Number of Households in Building; House Ownership; Household Size; and Car Ownership) significantly contributed to the classification of respondents into membership groups of the ‘Poor Housing' group and ‘Good Housing’ group in the binary logistic regression. To improve the housing and environmental conditions of medium-sized cities in Nigeria, the study advocates the Physical Development Plan as a spatial base for urban economic revitalization and environmental regeneration strategies.

A child play‐and‐learn area contributing to urban regeneration: A case in Christchurch, New Zealand

AbstractThis study regards a Child Play‐and‐Learn Area (CPLA) in a library as a third place and investigates its relationships with visitors through the concept of place attachment. To understand the influence of the CPLA, the study examined the relationships among visitors' place attachment, servicescape and behavioural intentions involving place scales. A survey was conducted in a CPLA in Christchurch, New Zealand (The Imagination Station in the central library) and collected 406 questionnaires. The results indicate that the physical and social servicescape of the CPLA can enhance visitors' place attachment and influence their behavioural intentions in the library and the city. The findings suggest that community‐oriented places like CPLAs and libraries should be used as social infrastructure in urban regeneration strategies.

Modeling vibrant areas at nighttime: A machine learning-based analytical framework for urban regeneration

Enhancing vibrant areas at nighttime (VAN) is important for promoting urban regeneration. However, the process simulation of the potential impact of urban renewal initiatives on VANs has yet to achieve complete coupling with population mobility, economy, and land utilization. In this study, we developed a simulation framework to simulate the changes in VANs and reveal their potential interconnection with urban regeneration strategies. The research methods involved the use of overlaying multiple data sources, including satellite imagery, thermal and land use maps, and point of interest data, to obtain a collection of nightlife activities in Mianyang City. We were able to identify and grade VANs based on multisource big data, providing support for urban renewal planning, as well as determine the key driving factors and configuration patterns of environmental elements that impact VAN. We also developed a machine learning-based predictive model for urban regeneration and VAN redevelopment. These results show that a vibrant nightlife can be used to regenerate dilapidated urban areas, thus reducing urbanization. Moreover, the simulation method developed in this study has wide applicability in other regions for identifying potential improvements and guiding investment and revitalization efforts in a targeted and effective manner.

Enhancing Neighborly Relations through Participatory Regeneration: A Case Study of Shanghai

This study investigates neighborly relations affecting mechanisms in participatory regeneration, based on cases of three typical types of urban neighborhoods in Shanghai: traditional Lilong residence, work-unit compounds, and commodity estates. We find that participatory regeneration affects neighborly relations through the collaboration and the physical improvements of the communal space. Although collaboration and physical improvements positively contribute to the enhancement of neighborly relations in traditional residence and work-unit compounds, neighborly relations are similar between neighborhoods with and without participatory regeneration because they have intense existing neighborly relations. Although the physical improvement of the communal space tends to decrease neighborly relations, the overall neighborly relations in commodity estates with participatory regeneration are stronger than the comparison group due to the contribution of collaboration. This study emphasizes the vital role of collaboration as affecting neighborly relations in commodity housing and generates practical implications for urban regeneration strategies in commodity estates and in urban planning in future.

범죄율 감소를 위한 도시재생 계획기법 연구

Urban regeneration plays a pivotal role in enhancing urban safety and residents' quality of life while being closely linked to reducing urban crime rates through transformative changes in city spaces. The improvement of infrastructure, parks, and public facilities connected to residential areas has a profound impact on addressing urban crime issues within communities.
 This study focuses on Mitte, a district in the German capital Berlin, where successful crime rate reduction was achieved through urban regeneration initiatives in high-crime areas. The research conducts a comprehensive case analysis of urban regeneration plans and strategies to identify the specific attributes contributing to crime reduction and the strategic approaches used for crime prevention environment design. The analysis of Mitte's Leopolaplatz area reveals two distinct features of crime prevention environment design implemented through urban regeneration: physical space rejuvenation and enhanced social integration. The rejuvenation of physical spaces involves a clear distinction between private and public areas. The findings of the analysis are as follows: Firstly, urban regeneration of private spaces results in an improvement in residents' sense of ownership and increased surveillance. Secondly, the regeneration of public spaces strengthens their identity and image, promoting a more organic form of surveillance. Lastly, the physical urban regeneration of both private and public spaces contributes to a safer urban environment. The implementation of community strengthening programs further enhances community cohesion.

Cultural backstages as urban creative ecologies: The case of Glasgow

Amid growing interest in the creative industries and their influence on urban planning and regeneration strategies, this article revisits cultural backstages and their underlying infrastructural conditions. By cultural backstages, we mean those urban production sites which accommodate small-scale, independent and often invisible cultural producers and businesses who operate from the margins of the creative sector in cities. This study approaches backstages as urban creative ecologies because a complex set of relationships and interactions exists between the physical spaces, the individuals, their activities and the resources required for cultural production in cities. It also argues that these relationships are defined by four infrastructural conditions: (a) financial models, (b) social networks, (c) public interfaces and (d) the adaptive capacity of their spaces and organisations. Based on a fieldwork-led comparative analysis, the research examines the ecologies of four production sites in the Barras area of Glasgow’s East End and analyses how their fourfold infrastructural conditions are constantly negotiated between top-down strategies and bottom-up initiatives. It concludes that while the relationships, interactions and infrastructures within these ecologies differ, they still share common ground: they operate in close proximity to each other and rely heavily on localised yet collective forms of support. Together, they form a wider ecology at the neighbourhood scale and they add cultural and social value to its function. This article concludes that cultural policies and urban planning strategies need to consider the complexity and dynamic nature of these ecologies and design recommendations ought to prioritise these fourfold infrastructural conditions to safeguard diversity in the public culture of cities.

Regeneration towards suitability: A decision-making framework for determining urban regeneration mode and strategies

Urban regeneration has become a popular research topic globally against the critical challenges that cities face with the decay of urban function, urban fabric, and residents living condition. However, it is the proper decision-making on urban regeneration mode and strategies to bring the long-term effectiveness of urban regeneration, no matter how much efforts and resources are devoted. This study introduces a “two-step” decision-making framework for determining the suitable urban regeneration mode and strategies. The decision-making variables are mobilised to delineate the status-quo decay of the local territory across the facets of sustainable performance and physical conditions, thus the most suitable regeneration mode can be designed (step 1). On top of the regeneration mode design, the most suitable urban regeneration strategies can be further tailored by considering the regeneration constraint factors including the requests for historical and cultural conservation, government financial capacity and previous regeneration experiences (step 2). The proposed decision-making framework is proven effective via the case study of nine districts of Chongqing municipality in China. The framework is instrumental for assisting urban governors to identify the most critical issues that need to be addressed, and to tailor suitable mode and strategies for implementing urban regeneration programs in order to tackle the decay challenges and revitalise their urban territory. Via enabling the effective integration between the resources within a city and rationalising the investment allocation, the introduced decision-making framework is effective for the overall planning and (re)development at city level.

Eventually detached, eventually belonging. A residential narratives' based institutionalist perspective on urban regeneration and the middle classes in Milan and Marseille

Notwithstanding major evolutions in both class identity and broader structural processes, generically defined “middle classes” are still a target for both investors seeking effective remuneration strategies and urban governments striving to achieve urban competitiveness as well as increased “social cohesion” and “order” in cities. However, despite this enduring centrality, scholars have yet to truly develop a critical discussion around the transformations involving middle classes' subjectivities within urban regeneration discourses and strategies and how they are shaped/adjusted/filtered through the specific forms that their design and implementation assume within particular contexts. We argue that a better grasp of these subjectivities can be critical for a deeper understanding of these strategies, their rationales, tools, outcomes, and shortcomings. The paper intends to fill this gap by investigating such subjectivities through the collection and discussion of “residential narratives”, by which we mean the collection of discourses and representations set forth by households and analyzed about a series of relevant dimensions: expectations, boundaries, and belonging. The narratives were collected in two European urban neighborhoods - one in Milan (Italy) and one in Marseille (France) - involved in variably governed urban regeneration processes centered on shaping and mobilizing middle-class subjectivities. Based on the presented results, the paper argues for a bottom-up institutionalist perspective on how we study urban regeneration discourses and strategies as class-making governing processes. • The mobilization of the middle classes in urban regeneration strategies depends on the cities' broader regulative contexts • Discourses, governance arrangements, and housing provision systems are key factors in the making of urban regeneration strategies • “Residential narratives” is key for understanding the way in which such strategies filter, shape and reshape middle-class identities

Cities and "Postcovidcene", an open challenge

<abstract> <p>This contribution aims to connect to the reflection on the relationship between sustainability and urban spaces. From a theoretical point of view, cities have been represented as autopoietic spaces that fully embody the criticalities and dynamics of the Anthropocene and, as a consequence, that possess endogenous energies for regeneration. In this sense, Covid-19 broke into history and catalyzed the reflections and strategies of urban regeneration. Having clarified these aspects, the contribution, through analysis of official documents and the bibliography, intends to critically focus on the impact that the EU Next Generation Plan has on the dynamics of urban regeneration and sustainability and to address, as a case study, the transformative dynamics of the city of Amsterdam, already initiated before the pandemic.</p> </abstract>

The Thoughts and Comparison of Urban Renewal Strategies in Edinburgh, UK and Xi 'an, China

Urban renewal theory is one of the theoretical frameworks in supporting urban development, which begins with an increase in the number of buildings in the city to accommodate basic human needs, continuing with the preservation of historical landmarks, as well as the introduction of green plants and sustainable ecology. It indicates that people pay greater attention to the urban living environment and shape the quality standards for urban design and the building of the city's image. The aims of Global urban renewal are almost the same, although the techniques and tactics of urban growth and renewal in the West and East vary to some extent. To fulfill the developing demands of the times, the city needs to renovate and upgrade the city's older parts while also considering the city's overall expansion and progress. This article examines and contrasts the history, idea, and urban renewal approach in the United Kingdom and China, and also investigates the similarities and differences in the growth of western and eastern cities. The cities are selected for their long history and unique planning features. Edinburgh in the U.K. and Xi'an City in China are selected as examples for an in-depth analysis of urban planning sequences in regeneration. The study of the evolution of urban morphology and the urban regeneration strategies of British and Chinese cities is reflected in the modern urban renewal of Edinburgh and Xi'an, along with the relationship between urban morphology and urban history and culture. It also discusses the impact of green space and the ecological environment on these two cities, separately, which also offers inspiring ideas and references for future city governance and revitalization.

Adaptive reuse of factory chimneys – industrial heritage symbols and urban landmarks

Industrial heritage buildings and sites are seen as an important part of urban regeneration and sustainable development strategies over the last two decades for a number of reasons. Of particular note is the genius loci that accompanies them, but also the potential to attract artists and creative industries. In this sense, factory chimneys are a strong visual element and also an important symbol. At the same time, thanks to their distinctive proportions, they have also become an unmissable part of the urban structure of cities, in which they can assume a compositional and orienting role (a landmark), comparable with church spires or belfries with all due respect. In order to design adaptive reuse of the chimney, it is therefore necessary to place it in a context that is not only spatial but also symbolic, both in relation to its immediate surroundings and in a wider context. Often, however, the subject of the new use of the chimney is only raised when at least the material context of the chimney was irreversibly altered; in extreme situations, the chimney is the only surviving element of the original structure. However, the lost authenticity – the originality of the preserved building structure or technological flow – also opens up new meanings and other possibilities for the use of a solitary chimney in a transformed environment. The contribution introduces adaptive reuse possibilities of the industrial chimneys within the sustainable urban development, considering both industrial heritage values and specific chimney construction limits.

Information in Streetscapes—Research on Visual Perception Information Quantity of Street Space Based on Information Entropy and Machine Learning

Urban street space is a critical reflection of a city’s vitality and image and a critical component of urban planning. While visual perceptual information about an urban street space can reflect the composition of place elements and spatial relationships, it lacks a unified and comprehensive quantification system. It is frequently presented in the form of element proportions without accounting for realistic factors, such as occlusion, light and shadow, and materials, making it difficult for the data to accurately describe the complex information found in real scenes. The conclusions of related studies are insufficiently focused to serve as a guide for designing solutions, remaining merely theoretical paradigms. As such, this study employed semantic segmentation and information entropy models to generate four visual perceptual information quantity (VPIQ) measures of street space: (1) form; (2) line; (3) texture; and (4) color. Then, at the macro level, the streetscape coefficient of variation (SCV) and K-means cluster entropy (HCK) were proposed to quantify the street’s spatial variation characteristics based on VPIQ. Additionally, we used geographically weighted regression (GWR) to investigate the relationship between VPIQ and street elements at the meso level as well as its practical application. This method can accurately and objectively describe and detect the current state of street spaces, assisting urban planners and decision-makers in making decisions about planning policies, urban regeneration schemes, and how to manage the street environment.

Sustainable Urban Regeneration Strategies in Korea’s Abandoned Mine Area Using Industrial Heritage

The purpose of this study was to establish sustainable urban regeneration strategies for the abandoned mine area by applying the industrial heritage in Taebaek city. To this end, this study first analyzed the urban regeneration strategies for abandoned mine areas in Western societies like the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the United States, and Spain. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with the concerned parties to analyze the abandoned mine areas in Taebaek city in line with the urban regeneration theoretical framework. The provision of urban regeneration strategies that apply the industrial heritage of the coal-mining areas involves the categories of urban regeneration like society, economy, environment, history, and cultural frameworks. The final findings deduced measures for two categories including the measures of activating Taebaek city as a cultural and also a leisure and sports city. The urban regeneration strategies to design Taebaek city as a cultural city include an EDM Festival by applying the dismal mood of the coal preparation plant industrial heritage in Taebaek city and Cheoram music and Lightning Road with industrial heritage. The urban regeneration strategies to design a leisure and sports city include a road bicycle racing contest by utilizing the geographical environment in Taebaek city which boasts high altitudes and Color Run. The two strategies of culture and leisure and sports contents deduced in the study can commonly utilize the industrial heritage of Taebaek city. Furthermore, as there is a continual demand for community participation, it is anticipated to apply it as the sustainable urban regeneration strategies of Taebaek city.

Analysis of Residential Satisfaction Changes by the Land Bank Program Using Text Mining

Many American manufacturing cities have experienced depopulation and economic downturns over the past five decades, and various revitalization strategies have been suggested to overcome the decline issue—ranging from redevelopment to smart decline. However, while most land bank-related studies have focused on socioeconomic dynamics (income levels, unemployment rate, etc.) through the program, there is a lack of direct research on residential satisfaction changes. Additionally, surveys were frequently used in previous studies to evaluate residential satisfaction; however, this method has disadvantages, including constraints on time and cost, and the inability to take into account external factors that may affect residential satisfaction. Furthermore, most studies on urban decline have focused primarily on declining factors, and there have been few investigations into how cities change as urban regeneration strategies advance. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to identify the influence of the land bank program on residential satisfaction by using Twitter data. Approximately 300,000 Twitter posts containing location information generated within the city of Detroit were collected to determine the degree of sensitivity to each tweet and categorized into positive and negative emotions to determine the relationship between residential satisfaction and the land bank program. As a result, the increase in homeownership, built year, house value, and the number of land banking sold properties were found to have a negative effect on neighborhood satisfaction in Detroit. Although the research results indicated that while the land bank program did not significantly improve residential satisfaction in Detroit, it has made a partial contribution to improving living standards. These findings emphasize the importance of enhancing residential satisfaction and suggest the need for policy change. In response to the problem of urban contraction, it seems that indiscriminately distributing houses is not the only solution to prevent urban shrinkage. Furthermore, this study shows meaningful results on text mining and provides the possibility of developing research using social network services.

Alternative Approaches to Urban Regeneration and Infill Planning

In Finland, cities consider infill development as a means for urban regeneration in existing suburbs. However, the preconditions for development may vary: some areas are more attractive for infill development projects than others. Therefore, cities must align their urban regeneration approaches with the specifics of the context.
 This paper builds on the notions that the prevailing growth-dependent urban planning paradigm is not functional in areas demarcated by low growth or stagnation. Planning that seeks to bring value for the localities by appreciating their strengths and non-monetary assets might provide grounds for alternative planning approaches. From these starting points, we explore how Finnish urban planners align their urban regeneration approaches with different contexts. We aim at identifying when the growth-dependent approach is used, whether alternative approaches are deployed, and what are their underlying logics. Our analytical framework originates from organizational learning theory of action inquiry. It explains how urban regeneration visions, strategies and actions are adjusted to low growth contexts. The empirical material consists of three urban regeneration cases in the Finnish City of Turku.
 As a result, three approaches to urban regeneration with different emphases on infill development are depicted and discussed. The growth-dependent approach is used in areas with strategic importance for the City, and possibilities for urban growth. Alternative approaches seek to support local development initiatives or inspire development in areas where it does not yet exist. The contribution of this exploratory paper is to demonstrate that urban planners in Finland deploy alternatives to growth-dependent planning and provide conceptualizations of alternative planning approaches.

Exploring the social dynamics of urban regeneration: A qualitative analysis of community members' experiences.

The present paper explores psychological processes that underpin the success of community change in the context of urban regeneration schemes. We adopt a social identity approach to develop an understanding of the ways in which social identity dynamics may impact upon peoples' experiences of regeneration, and what influence these identity processes have on the creation of new communities. Qualitative interviews, using thematic analysis as an analytic technique, were conducted with community members (n= 14) in a recently (2001-2011) regenerated area in the South-West of England. Three overarching themes were identified: Patterns of identification, willingness to engage, and the notion of regeneration as an event. The research overall highlights the central role of group-based identity in understanding the processes of regeneration and how this is experienced by different community members. Findings are discussed in relation to the impact regeneration schemes have on community members' sense of collective self, unity, and engagement. The research highlights the pivotal role of social identity processes in delivering successful and sustainable strategies of urban regeneration.