Search Results (13)

The renovation of old urban residential areas is and will continue to be an important part of urban renewal in China. The renovation of existing old urban residential areas focuses more on the physical level of renovation and pays insufficient attention to the improvement of collaborative community governance. However, collaborative community governance is the key to sustainable renovation. This study aims to explore the formation mechanism of multiple subjects’ collaborative governance in the renovation of old urban residential areas. A general collaborative governance theoretical framework was adopted and adjusted by innovatively introducing the improvement of collaborative community governance in old urban residential areas as an important variable in collaborative results. Data were collected through 853 questionnaires in 16 provinces across China and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Data analysis reveals the following conclusions: (1) institution design and the collaborative process have significant positive impacts on collaborative results, while facilitative leadership has a negative impact; (2) the collaborative process is an important mediating variable on collaborative results; (3) government departments’ and residents’ self-governing organizations play important roles in improving collaborative community governance. Face-to-face dialogue and consultation, information disclosure and transparency, and reaching an intermediate consensus are important mediator variables. The research results provide theoretical support and practical suggestions for promoting the improvement of multiple-subject collaboration through old urban residential area renovation. Full article

Since 2019, China has been promoting the renovation of old urban residential areas built in 2000 or earlier. However, older communities surrounding large urban hospitals face unique challenges, including deteriorating infrastructure, complex social dynamics, and conflicts between tenants and residents. This study focuses on old communities near Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, Hunan Province, employing questionnaire surveys to analyze residential satisfaction and demands across three dimensions: housing spaces, community public spaces, and social relations. Using multilevel linear regression, structural equation modeling, and moderation effect analysis, this research systematically investigates influencing factors and group heterogeneity. The findings reveal that community greening, recreational facilities, and property management are core drivers of residential satisfaction, while social relationships and public spaces play critical mediating roles. Distinct group-specific needs emerged: elderly residents prioritized greening, security, and property management responsiveness; medical students emphasized sound insulation and tenant management; and patients and their families heavily emphasized ventilation and lighting, hygienic conditions, and infrastructure. To address these issues, the study proposes an integrated renewal strategy emphasizing the integration of physical upgrades and soft governance. The findings provide theoretical and practical insights for the systematic renewal of similar older hospital-adjacent communities. Full article

The renovation of old residential neighbourhoods represents a critical livelihood initiative. In this study, a theoretical framework utilising fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is developed to investigate the complex interplay of factors influencing residential satisfaction and to identify multiple pathways for satisfaction enhancement in old residential neighbourhood renovation projects. Thirty old residential neighbourhoods within Nanchang’s urban core are selected as case studies. Through the systematic evaluation and measurement of five critical dimensions—governmental policy; community environment; community support; housing quality; and resident perception—the research applies fsQCA to analyse potential pathways for enhancing residential satisfaction from a “community” perspective. The research finds that residents’ satisfaction can be enhanced through four pathways: housing quality enhancement, quality and support improvement, community environment improvement, and environment–quality linkage. The research findings yield key policy implications: First, a multifactorial synergistic approach should be implemented to overcome reductionist tendencies toward single-factor solutions. Second, differentiated rehabilitation frameworks should be developed to prevent homogenisation in old residential neighbourhood renovation practices. Third, enhancing the accessibility and comprehensibility of government policies through effective communication strategies is crucial, and cultivating a community ethos centred on co-creation, co-governance, and shared benefits should be prioritised to foster collective responsibility and participatory decision-making. Full article

In the context of urbanization, the renewal of old communities constitutes a crucial aspect for enhancing the living environment. Currently, the social benefits and utilization efficiency achieved through the renewal of such neighborhoods fall short of meeting the demands of society, urban management, and residents. Existing research on old community renewal predominantly centers on environmental beautification and infrastructure augmentation or relies on diverse data for interpreting and analyzing the current state of these spaces while overlooking in-depth investigations into the design methodologies for public spaces within old communities. This paper presents a comprehensive strategy, termed “Demands–Design–Verify (DDV)”. This paper selected an old community in Changsha City (China) as a case study and used the following: (1) a questionnaire investigation and observation (Demands); (2) parameterized simulation data and UTCI energy data put forward for the optimization strategy of aging community public space (Design); (3) space syntax, physical environmental simulation data, and a one-way analysis of variance to validate the effectiveness of the design (Verify). The research results indicate that the public space renewal outcomes of old-aged communities under the guidance of this method have positive effects in aspects such as solar radiation, thermal comfort, spatial accessibility, and pedestrian flow. The method exhibits universality and ease of implementation for public space renewal in old communities, thus providing scientific methodological guidance for urban residential renewal. Full article

China, like many other countries around the world, faces a rapidly aging population. “Aging in place” is the most popular choice for older people in China, with more than 90% of urban older people living in the same residential areas they did in middle age. Nighttime outdoor activity (NOA) is popular among the elderly and has a positive impact on both their physical and mental health. However, the conditions of nighttime activity places in old gated communities often do not meet the activity needs of the elderly, and there are problems such as low lighting and poor accessibility. This study focuses on typical old gated communities in a large city and analyzes data on three dimensions of independent variables: the lighting of activity places, the built environment of old gated communities, and the attributes of the elderly residents themselves. Taking “satisfaction with the environment for NOAs”, “the biggest environmental problem with NOAs”, and “locations that need improved lighting” as dependent variables, we used machine learning to calculate the contributions of various influencing factors on the dependent variables. It was found that the most important factors that influence satisfaction with the NOA environments are lighting levels, with the built environment or elderly residents’ attributes being less important. The most important factor that influences older people’s judgment of “locations that need improved lighting” is the perception of safety related to lighting in NOAs, followed by the perception of uniform lighting and green areas in their gated community. This study provides a reference for the renovation of age-friendly community environments as well as the overall enhancement of the nighttime activity environments in old gated communities. Full article

Urban green development is crucial for citizen well-being and serves as a key pillar of sustainable development strategies. Collaborative governance mechanisms help address management, technical, and financial challenges in urban green development. The renovation of old residential communities within the context of urban renewal is becoming a focal point in the development of Chinese cities. To promote green development in the renovation of old residential communities in China, this study introduces the collaborative governance mechanism of government–social capital cooperation and identifies the factors influencing social capital participation in green development. A hybrid approach is proposed, combining grounded theory, IGAHP subjective weighting, CRITIC objective weighting, game theory, and ISM. This approach is applied to identify, evaluate, and analyze the factors driving social capital participation in the green renovation of old residential communities. The results indicate that government incentives and constraints, policy support, the costs and benefits of implementing green renovation, the development of green renovation technologies, and construction technical abilities significantly influence the decision-making of social capital. The findings provide theoretical support for decision-making by governments and social capital in participating in the green renovation of old residential communities and offer a methodological reference for analyzing social capital participation in other urban green development projects and for further policy formulation. Future research should focus on examining social capital involvement in other types of urban green development projects. Full article

The renovation of public space environments in old residential areas has become the focal point in Chinese urban renewal and promotion of urban sustainable development; thus, an urgent need for research expansion is attached to identifying the environmental factors of public space and their impacts from the perspective of residents’ needs and satisfaction. Taking Hefei, China, as an example, and based on a satisfaction survey of the public space environment in old residential areas, this study discerned critical factors affecting public space satisfaction through gradient-boosting decision trees and impact-asymmetry analysis methods, after which the asymmetric relationship between public space environment factors and resident satisfaction was tested and the priority and goal of public space environment renovation were obtained. The results indicate that the following: (1) Compared with physical environment factors, current social environment factors, including uncivilized behavior, space occupation, and hygiene and cleanliness, exert a greater impact on the overall satisfaction. (2) The hypothesis that there exists a general nonlinear relationship between environmental factors and satisfaction is verified, with all social environment factors proving to be nonlinear and physical environment factors being highly related to social environment creation, such as nursing space for the old and young, reading and learning space, and display and communication space. (3) A priority hierarchy for the improvement of environmental factors should be established, which basically conforms to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. The role of social environment renovation should be highlighted, along with the necessity to bolster community governance and public space management. At the level of the physical environment, more space should be available for the activities of residents, display and communication, and reading and learning. This study can provide a corresponding theoretical basis and planning inspiration for meeting the multiple needs of residents for public space, improving life happiness, and promoting the sustainable development of cities in the renovation of public space environments in old residential areas. Full article

The multi-criteria group decision-making approach, rooted in fuzzy mathematics theory, is employed to address the globally significant issue of green construction in this paper. The construction industry is one of the most prominent contributors to carbon emissions, which is evident throughout the entire supply chain. Meanwhile, the renovation of old residential communities is a large-scale urban construction project in China. In striving to advance the sustainable development of the construction industry and meet decarbonization goals, the attention has shifted towards green construction in the renovation of old residential communities. However, substantial gaps persist in both technical innovation and practical application of green construction. This study aims to identify the factors that influence the popularization and implementation of green construction practices in the renovation of old residential communities. To achieve this, a comprehensive decision-making approach is sought, and these factors are thoroughly investigated. In this paper, we propose a hybrid decision-making framework that incorporates grounded theory, the fuzzy decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method, and the analytic network process (ANP) method. Leveraging triangular fuzzy numbers and other fuzzy mathematical theories, this approach is designed to assess the factors that influence the popularization and implementation of green construction practices, uncovering their interrelationships and mechanisms. The results indicate the comprehensive nature of advancing green construction practices, encompassing the entire supply chain involved in the renovation of old residential communities. Among these factors, social participation and market environment emerge as the most influential. Building upon these conclusions, this paper offers specific recommendations. Ultimately, this study equips the construction industry with both a theoretical foundation and a methodological framework to popularize and implement green construction practices effectively. Full article

In recent years, in order to improve the quality of living, China has carried out a series of urban renewal projects, such as adding elevators to old communities. Taking Hangzhou as an example, this paper studies the decision to install elevators in old residential buildings. This study used cold spots and hot spots, local autocorrelation and fishnetting analysis to show the spatial and temporal patterns of lift retrofitting in old communities. Finally, the spatial lag model is used to test whether there is a spatial spillover effect in the behavior of residents installing elevators. The research shows that: (1) Hot spots areas for retrofitting lifts are clustered in the central urban areas of Hangzhou, such as the intersection of Shangcheng District, Xiacheng District, Jianggan District, Gongshu District and Xihu District (scenic area); (2) The trend of retrofitting areas spreading from the center to the periphery; (3) In different communities, the number of elevators added in neighboring communities has a positive effect on the decision of adding elevators in other local communities. Therefore, the neighborhood effect cannot be ignored in the topic of community renovation, in which residents spontaneously participate. Full article

The transformation of old neighborhoods involves many important types of livelihood development projects, of which smart transformation is considered one of the most important tasks at present. The smart transformation of old neighborhoods provides an important means to promote sustainable development; however, enhancing the willingness of residents to participate is an important prerequisite for the smart transformation of old neighborhoods. Considering perceptive value acceptance theory and community ownership theory in the field of information management and sociology, we study the intention of residents in old communities to participate in intelligent transformation and its influence mechanisms. Our results show that willingness to participate in the smart renovation of old residential areas is positively affected by the perceived value of smart renovation and the sense of community attachment of residents. The sense of community plays an intermediary role in the relationship between perceived value and willingness to participate in smart renovation. At the same time, the perceived value of intelligent renovation of old residential areas and a sense of community have chain mediating effects between perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, perceived risk, perceived cost, and willingness to participate. This paper not only achieves theoretical expansion but also provides good support for accelerating the intelligent transformation of old communities in China. Full article

The renovation of old residential communities not only meets the people’s aspirations for a better life, but also promotes the image of a city. However, unreasonable cost allocation in the renovation of old residential communities seriously impedes the multi-channel fundraising and progress of renovation. The general aim of this study was to construct a cost allocation model for the renovation of old residential communities, so as to address unreasonable cost allocation and speed up the renovation. With the government, home owners, and private sectors as the main participants and stakeholders, we constructed a cost allocation model for the renovation of old residential communities based on the structural equation model and the Shapley value. The structural equation model is used for indicator screening and weight computing, while the Shapley value is used for cost allocation. Then, we improved the cost allocation model based on the influencing factors that were screened out. This discovery will increase the cooperation between the government, home owners, and private sectors to fund the renovation of old residential communities, and further improve the progress of renovation of old residential communities. The study results show that by fully taking into account the degree of participation, the degree of risk sharing, the degree of value-added return, and the degree of resource input of participants, the improved cost allocation model makes the cost allocation more reasonable and fairer. Full article

In order to improve the ability of residential disaster prevention, control, and governance, it is important to objectively measure how nearby residents’ needs match the public resources of the residential area, and to understand the factors affecting the satisfaction of residents’ needs at the time of lockdowns. Taking Changchun City as an example, this paper used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)-logit and Importance–Satisfaction (I–S) evaluation methods to discuss the impact mechanism and improvement strategies of residential public resource elements on the satisfaction of residents’ needs during the lockdown period. The results showed the influencing factors and the degree of importance of the satisfaction of residents’ needs under different types of settlements have obvious differentiation characteristics. The level of resource management can better affect the overall evaluation of residents in newly built settlements, and the quality of the conditions of the space environment is more important for the old residential communities. The satisfaction of residents in settlements has a more significant impact. Finally, the study explained the renovation proposals and their priority levels that meet the needs of residents to provide beneficial support for the resilience of urban settlements. Full article

Stormwater management is a key issue in line with global problems of urbanization and climate change. Assessing the effectiveness in managing stormwater is crucial to maintain urban resilience to flooding risk. A method based on a stormwater management model (SWMM) was developed for assessing the control of stormwater runoff volume and the percentage removal of suspended solids by implementing a Sponge City strategy. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) with urban green infrastructure and grey infrastructure paradigms in a typical old residential community in Suzhou, China. Sponge facilities for reducing stormwater runoff included bio-retention cells, permeable pavements, grassed pitches, and stormwater gardens. The simulation results of SWMM show that the stormwater pipe system can meet the management standard for storms with a five-year recurrence interval. The volume capture ratio of annual runoff was 91%, which is higher than control target of 80%. The suspended solids reduction rate was 56%, which meets the requirement of planning indicators. Thus, the proposed method of spongy facilities can be used for renovation planning in old residential areas in China. Implementing spongy facilities with a LID strategy for stormwater management can significantly enhance urban water resilience and improve ecosystem services. Full article