A Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Urban Regeneration in China

Ge, X (2025) A Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Urban Regeneration in China. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

This research investigates the concepts concerning assessment of the sustainability of urban regeneration in China. Urban regeneration is a very complex issue, which involves many aspects, such as urban planning, environmental protection, economic development and cultural inheritance. Sustainable urban regeneration has become a major concern of many countries and cities. The sustainability of urban regeneration projects can be assessed from environmental, economic, social and many other dimensions. China has been experiencing large-scale urbanization and both national and local governments are calling for sustainable urban regeneration. However, literature research shows that there is no universal framework, which can be adopted or applied in the Chinese situation. Indicator-based assessment frameworks have been developed and proved to be an effective assessment tool in urban regeneration projects. This paper aims to establish an indicator-based framework to assess the sustainability of urban regeneration projects in China. The principal research methods adopted in this thesis include literature research, questionnaires and case studies. This study started with the indicator selection, based on extensive literature research. Experts’ opinions were collected through a Delphi-style questionnaire survey to determine relative weightings of the indicators of the assessment framework. Finally, multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methods were employed to compare three urban regeneration cases in China to verify the proposed assessment framework. Literature research shows that there is no single assessment framework or model to evaluate the sustainability of urban regeneration in China. The proposed assessment framework can provide a holistic and systematic framework for national and local governments and it can fill the gap in assessing the overall sustainability of urban regeneration cases in China. The main research outcome of this research is an assessment framework which includes 3 dimensions, 13 indicators and 66 sub-indicators. Of three main dimensions, the environmental dimension ranks first, accounting for 37%. The economic dimension covers 34% and the social dimension accounts for 29%. It can be seen that environmental sustainability is the most important issue in assessing the overall sustainability of an urban regeneration project. Meanwhile, urban regeneration projects also need to consider the economic benefits brought about by the redevelopment. Social sustainability is also an important part aspect that cannot be neglected, despite the desire of most urban regeneration projects for economic profits. The result of the three urban regeneration projects for case studies showed that the proposed framework could rank the overall sustainability of urban regeneration projects and make a comprehensive comparison and contrast of various urban regeneration cases. The main beneficiaries of this research – governments of different levels (national or local), relevant companies (real estate, architecture, creative and cultural industry, etc.) and the general public around the regeneration areas will find this framework useful and make more contributions to the development of a framework which is close to the specific situation of their local economy, society and living environment. What’s more, this study proves the efficiency and effectiveness of this method in establishing the assessment framework for Chinese urban regeneration projects. The proposed assessment framework can be adapted by governments or other beneficiaries according to their specific regional, economic or cultural situations.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	urban regeneration, sustainable development, sustainability assessment, assessment framework
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Divisions:	Civil Engineering and Built Environment
Date of acceptance:	7 April 2025
Date Deposited:	09 May 2025 10:51
Last Modified:	09 May 2025 10:52
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00026280
Supervisors:	Maliene, V, Guo, F and Cao, F
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26280

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