Ex post evaluation of regular old residential community renovation projects: empirical evidence from Nanjing, China

As China enters a stock-based phase of urban renewal, renovating old residential communities has become a key priority in urban development. Existing empirical work focuses mainly on pilot initiatives that showcase innovative governance and replicable models, leaving regular non-pilot projects underexamined. Using Gulou District in Nanjing as a case, this study examines regular renovation projects – non-demonstration, government-led, template-based EPC projects – initiated and completed in 2022–2023 under newly issued provincial directives. Outcomes are assessed along two dimensions (physical environment and resident satisfaction) across five domains (buildings, transportation, public facilities, infrastructure, and greening). The study provides a systematic ex post evaluation of mainstream practice in China’s old-community renovation. Using a comparative framework, we examine performance across community types and domains. Physical-environment performance is modest across four community types, with domain medians of 0.54, 0.26, 0.21, 0.88, and 0.66. Corresponding median satisfaction scores are 0.62, 0.47, 0.35, 0.69, and 0.65, indicating no domain achieves high resident satisfaction. Cross-category comparisons yield three policy implications: (1) advancing integrated planning beyond gated-community boundaries to address system-level constraints; (2) refining EPC-based design solutions to produce more context-responsive and higher-quality outcomes; and (3) strengthening feedback mechanisms through government – resident consensus building in regular renovation projects.