Contextual Sensitivity Analysis for Urban Industrial Heritage Quarter Regeneration: Shanghai as a Pilot Case Study

Looking into the development of modern cities, industrial heritage quarters within the urban context are important spatial resources for urban development. With the increasing trend toward incorporating quantitative research in urban studies in recent years, this study aims to develop mixed method research named Contextual Sensitivity Analysis (CSA) to study how the urban context of industrial heritage quarters impacts the variation in heritage values after regeneration. The application of CSA proceeds as follows: first, value variations following urban regeneration are established as the analysis targets; then, the impact of adaptive reuse strategies on the context is quantified as analysis indicators. A mathematical model is employed to explore how these indicators influence changes in values. This study takes Shanghai as a pilot case study and selected 14 samples that accord with the characteristics of urban industrial heritage quarters (UIHQ) for data collection and analysis. The findings of the analysis will be displayed as regression curves, demonstrating that the degree of correlation and the impact trend between specific context indicators and heritage values vary significantly. By identifying and comparatively analysing indicators with stronger correlations, the study reveals which contextual factors are more effective and efficient in influencing particular heritage values under certain conditions. These results confirm the feasibility and usefulness of CSA as a method for uncovering the relationship between surface-level outcomes and underlying contextual causes in urban industrial heritage quarters. In conclusion, this study is expected to provide a reference when considering how the resource input should sensitively focus on different indicators to achieve optimal performance in adjusting the value of heritage sites. The potential of this study also lies in the fact that, if the CSA method proves effective, the value targets and contextual indicators can be further expanded and applied in broader future research.