Theoretical, methodological, and implementation considerations for establishing a sustainable urban renewal model

In China's urbanization 2.0 phase, urban renewal has become the primary means of urban spatial development. Essentially, it is a high-quality development process aimed at enhancing the efficiency of resource allocation and utilization, strengthening spatial carrying capacity, optimizing urban functional quality, and reinforcing urban development resilience. Centered on the reform and development goal of "establishing a sustainable urban renewal model and policy regulations" set by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, 15 experts and scholars from fields such as geography, urban and rural planning, and land resource management engaged in written discussions. This exploration spans various perspectives and dimensions, including the conceptual connotation, value concepts, implementation and pathways, institutional policy environment construction, and performance evaluation methods of sustainable urban renewal. Specifically: (1) Conceptual Connotation: Sustainable urban renewal should be understood as both the "sustainability" of goals and the "sustainability" of implementation. (2) Value Concepts: Emphases should be placed on promoting multi-stakeholder participation and benefit-sharing as the fundamental economic philosophy for constructing sustainable urban renewal, as well as integrating urban renewal into the spatial governance of urban cultural heritage, social spatial, and ecological spaces, thereby organizing urban renewal actions from a multidimensional systemic perspective of "economic-social-cultural-ecological-resilience". (3) Implementation: It is crucial to effectively balance the interests of local governments, market entities, property owners, and society. Secondly, attention should be given to ensuring and enhancing the mechanism for state-owned enterprises to participate in urban renewal. Thirdly, new mechanisms should be adopted such as franchising to attract enthusiasm from social capital. With all parties mentioned above, we should transform urban construction from a "supply-oriented" to a "demand-oriented" model. Besides, to meet the people's growing needs for a better life, urban renewal implementation should focus more on multi-participatory design, embedding public service facilities, green infrastructure, and digital technology elements at the micro-community scale perceptible to the people, and coordinate urban renewal planning and management implementation. (4) Institutional Policy Environment Construction: Overall, there should be a focus on new demands for urban renewal products, governance, and models in the new era, so as to create an adaptive and sustainable institutional policy environment for urban renewal. Particularly, considering key elements such as "people, land, and capital" in urban renewal, systematic institutional innovations should be conducted in aspects like land use regulations, funding arrangements, and organizational mechanisms. (5) Performance Evaluation: Finally, from a "people's perspective", a measurable and comparable performance evaluation system for urban renewal should be established.