Dynamic decision-support for heritage-sensitive urban regeneration: An AI-driven framework integrating socio-cultural sustainability

• SRHUF combines sustainability and heritage in terms of urban regeneration. • Encompasses expert contributions, Delphi rating, and normal-distribution scoring. • Python-based software maps user scores to tailor an individual regeneration plan. • Stakeholder validation reveals contrasting priorities of managers vs. contractors. • Outperforms LEED, BREEAM, and HUL with cultural sensitivity and dynamic scoring. Sustainable regeneration of historic urban areas requires a holistic methodology that simultaneously preserves cultural heritage and meets contemporary sustainability goals. Existing rating systems—such as LEED and BREEAM—fail to capture heritage-sensitive renewal's socio-cultural dimensions and contextual particularities. This study develops a novel AI-driven decision-support framework for sustainable regeneration of historic urban fabrics (SRHUF), integrating environmental, economic, social-cultural, and transportation indicators with practical, context-specific solutions. For this purpose, a mixed-methods approach combined expert consultations, Delphi-style prioritization, and normal-distribution-based solution classification. Practical solutions for sustainability indicators were curated and ranked. The best solutions were suggested using a Python-based SRHUF software program that was created using user-specified indicator scores. Stakeholder validation showed conflicting priorities: urban managers emphasised socio-cultural authenticity and economic viability (16–17/20), whereas contractors gave technical feasibility the highest grades (> 19/20). The dynamic mapping of solutions through six score intervals per indication showed the framework's adaptive capacity, with the socio-cultural domain emerging as the most important factor, followed by economic factors. Stakeholder-responsive, evidence-based planning is advanced by SRHUF and its companion software, which fills a crucial gap in sustainable urban renewal practice by connecting theoretical indicators with practical strategies.