Dissemination, manipulation or monopolization? Understanding the influence of stakeholder information sharing on resident participation in neighborhood rehabilitation of urban China

Socially sustainable urban renewal hinges on active public participation, necessitating effective information sharing. Combining Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Ecological Network Analysis (ENA), this study longitudinally investigates how stakeholder information sharing evolves over the project lifecycle of neighborhood rehabilitation and its impacts on resident participation. A representative neighborhood rehabilitation project in Wuhan, China, serves as the study case, with data from 10 interviews, 35 questionnaires, and 3 focus groups. The study suggests that SNA and ENA are complementary and competent in identifying key stakeholders, as well as uncovering undesirable behaviors of manipulation and monopolization, and unhealthy relationships like exploitation and competition. Implementation unit and neighborhood committee emerged as principal information holders, while local media and tenant were least informed. SNA results underscore the central position of neighborhood committee in collecting and disseminating information, demonstrating significant autonomy and control throughout project lifecycle. Conversely, homeowner showed marked dependence and lacked control, particularly in the planning and design phase. ENA findings reveal neighborhood committee’s ongoing struggle with information exploitation, eroding its willingness and capacity to share information during the later phases of rehabilitation process. The information exploitation led to a fragile network that further marginalized local media, undermined by dwindling trust and autonomy. Notably, homeowners amplified their discourse power as project progressed, shifting from passive recipients to active decision-makers. Yet, well-informed homeowners monopolized information sharing, deliberately excluding others with conflicting interests, intensifying issues of inequity and opacity. Policy recommendations are provided to counter unhealthy stakeholder dynamics and promote equitable and inclusive public participation in urban renewal initiatives. • Ecological network analysis is competent in unraveling detrimental behaviors and relationships. • Neighborhood committee is central to information sharing while suffering from ongoing exploitation. • Information sharing amplifies residents’ discourse power, from dissemination to monopolization. • Media is competent participation facilitator but lack trust and autonomy in information sharing. • Renewal policy should focus on reducing reliance on manpower and regulating manual interventions.