Urban regeneration is a sound, sustainable urban development strategy globally. In China, promoting urban regeneration has become the national sustainable urban strategy. Under the resource constraint, it is necessary to understand what benefits different types of urban regeneration projects can contribute to urban development. Much research has contributed to evaluating the benefits of urban regeneration on the project scale. The systematic investigation of their effects on surrounding economic vitality, especially the comparison between different types of projects, is relatively downplayed. This paper aims to evaluate and compare the effects of urban regeneration projects on surrounding economic vitality by calculating the change in housing prices. Chongqing is selected as the case city. Based on the housing transaction data from 2015 to 2021, a staggered difference-in-difference method is employed to capture the results. The finding shows that the overall effects are significantly negative, especially within a 400–800 m radius. Higher investment or better project location relates to stronger negative effects. Moreover, the differences in effects among the three types of urban regeneration projects are clearly revealed from diverse perspectives. It provides a valuable reference for policymakers and urban planners to make urban regeneration planning better by considering comprehensive benefits.

Urban regeneration (UR) has been a leading concern in urban studies globally. China’s rapid urbanization has undergone profound urban decay and social contestation, for which UR has emerged as a viable solution. However, UR is not without its drawbacks. It has caused emerging spatial and planning problems; however, few studies have explored the characteristics and issues of UR from the view of spatial analytics on the city scale. This study aims to depict the distribution characteristics of UR projects in Chinese cities and to reveal whether it meets the requirements of urban development from the planning perspective. The nearest neighbor index and its hierarchical clustering, as well as kernel density estimation are used in conjunction to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics; and the relationship between project distribution and each urban development indicator is explored using mixed spatial characteristics analyses, such as buffer analysis, space syntax, and heat mapping. Considering Shenzhen as the empirical study city, this research is based on all officially released data of implemented UR projects between 2010 and 2021. The findings imply that the UR projects in Shenzhen are mostly located in areas with higher economic development levels and accessibility with areas witnessing industrial restructuring and severe urban decay being prone to be designated for UR initiatives. The spatial distribution characteristics disclose the challenges inherent in the mix of top-down and market-driven UR approaches as well as the dilemma of the center-periphery pattern in UR implementation. Furthermore, the contradiction between the growing population and limited land resources as well as the barriers to industrial clustering formation are also revealed. This study enriches the methodological framework for spatial and visualization studies of urban regeneration in worldwide cities and sheds light on how to promote UR in regard to urban sustainability with ramifications for future urban development in other Chinese cities.

The emerging prefabricated decoration (PD) sector in China offers a compelling avenue for revolutionizing the construction industry, aligning with the imperatives of sustainability and industrialization. However, the outlook for the diffusion of PD in China's construction industry is less than promising. The development of PD is closely related to its value creation and the intricate interplay of stakeholder strategies and their ramifications on PD's value co-creation necessitates thorough exploration. Based on evolutionary game theory, this study elucidates the dynamic interactions among local governments, developers, and decoration contractors in China's evolving PD landscape. A tripartite evolutionary game model was established, investigating the evolutionary stable equilibriums and the corresponding strategies. Then, an empirical analysis in Chongqing City validates the game models and primary conclusions. Scrutinizing subsidy thresholds, local subsidy biases, PD proportion in prefabrication, and binary innovation allocation, the research unveils nuanced insights pertinent to boosting PD's value co-creation. Findings advocate an assembly rate threshold of subsidy (65%–70 %) and a shift towards incentivizing decoration contractors to catalyze PD adoption. Additionally, excessive PD proportion and immature product investments may hinder industry development, prompting stakeholders to recalibrate strategies dynamically. These findings characterize the mechanisms of stakeholder value co-creation during the PD diffusion, enriching the implications of value co-creation theory in the emerging industry of the construction sector. They also furnish stakeholders committed to promoting the diffusion of PD in the domestic and international construction sectors with practical strategic guidance, particularly tailored for cities in the early stages of PD development.

The implementation of prefabricated housing (PH) has become prevalent in China recently due to its advantages in enhancing production and energy-saving efficiency within the construction system. However, stakeholders may not always fully realize the benefits of adopting PH due to the emergence of transaction costs (TCs) in the development process of such projects. This study investigated the strategies for developers to make rational choices for minimizing the TCs of the PH project considering their own attributes and external constraints. A Bayesian Belief Network model was applied as the analytical method, based on surveys conducted in China. A single sensitivity analysis indicated that developers influence the TCs of PH through the following three most impactful factors: prefabrication rate, PH experience, and contract payment method. Integrated strategies are recommended for developers in various situations based on a multiple sensitivity analysis. Developers facing challenges due to high prefabrication rates are advised to reduce the risks by procuring highly qualified general contractors and adopting unit-price contracts. For developers with limited PH experience, adopting the Engineering–Procurement–Construction procurement method is the most efficient way to reduce their TCs in the context of China’s PH market. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge concerning the effect of traders’ attributes and choices on TCs, expanding the application of TC theory and fulfilling the study on the determinants of TCs in construction management.

The private housing rental market has rapidly developed and demonstrated its outstanding contribution to improving affordability for the floating population in China. However, the forming pattern of private housing rental prices (PHRP) remains poorly understood in China’s highly dense populated cities. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the determinants of PHRP and depict their spatial pattern, considering the diverse functions of different areas within the city. A theoretical framework of the factors that influence PHRP has been developed based on an extensive literate study. Taking Chongqing city as a case, a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) analysis based on data from Lianjia.com and 58.com was conducted to investigate the spatial pattern of those influencing factors. The PHRP in Chongqing were mainly shaped by the factors of traffic condition and the neighborhood environment. The main findings highlighted that the influence of traffic condition on rental prices is more dominating in the industrial and financial zones, and the neighborhood factors represent spatial heterogeneity in the educational and commercial zones. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the spatial pattern of PHRP’s determinants in highly dense populated Chinese cities, extending the understanding of factors influencing housing rental prices. Practically, it provides scientific and reliable recommendations for the local governments and housing agencies in developing housing properties that consider the needs of the floating population. Moreover, tenants in highly dense populated cities benefit from suggestions about looking for proper accommodation with high value and accessibility in different functional zones of the city.

Purpose: Prefabricated building (PB) has been a pivotal force in advancing global building industrialization and sustainability. However, the PB supply chain operation faces significant challenges of exhausting negotiations, poor communication and imperfect information, representing high transaction costs (TCs). Existing literature inadequately addresses governance behaviors to mitigate TCs. This study aims to explore PB supply chain inefficiencies through the lens of TC theory, examining the nuanced relationships between hybrid governance behaviors and TCs and exploring effective governance strategies. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the theoretical frameworks of governance behavior and TCs, this study employed semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys with PB experts in Anhui, China. Subsequently, integrated backpropagation neural network and ordered logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify critical governance behaviors and explore boundaries for TCs reduction. Findings: TCs of the PB supply chain are elevated (1) from communication and coordination; (2) during the construction and approval stages. Investigation of how governance behaviors influence the TCs indicated that (1) enterprises exert more influence than local governments; (2) governance effectiveness in the transaction and transaction environment dimensions outweighs stakeholder influence and (3) functional TCs exist in PB, associated with component manufacturing, PB contract negotiation and learning cost. Originality/value: This study extends understanding of TCs in PB by providing nuanced insights into the nature and timing of TCs and elucidates how governance structures shape TCs. Functional TCs intrinsic to PB were identified when exploring the optimization boundaries. These insights equip local governments and enterprises with actionable knowledge to prioritize effective governance behaviors and measures.