Unveiling Urban Regeneration Risks in China: A Social Perspective

China’s urbanization process is currently in a transition phase from rapid growth to slow growth, necessitating the implementation of sustainable measures in urban planning. Urban regeneration (UR), being one of the fundamental mechanisms for achieving sustainable urban development, has received considerable attention. UR promotes sustainable development by reusing abandoned land and buildings, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing the ecological environment. However, UR involves numerous stakeholders who may have conflicting interests due to factors such as the environment, technology, and economy, thereby giving rise to social risks (SRs). These SRs pose a threat to the success of UR projects and can also lead to social instability, as well as hindering sustainable urban development. Identifying risk sources forms the foundation of and key to risk management. Therefore, this research employs an integrated qualitative and quantitative method to explore the SR factors (SRFs) related to UR for China. On the basis of the grounded theory method, case study examination was used for data collection, resulting in the identification of 22 specific categories and five main categories. Through quantitative analysis, the identified SRFs and five main classifications of UR in China were verified, namely the negative effects of demolition and relocation, the negative environmental effect, the negative effect of technology, the organization-related negative effect, and the negative effect of policy. Among them, the unfair compensation for demolition and relocation has the greatest impact on the SRs in UR. Based on further analysis of the quantitative results, this study proposes three measures to alleviate the UR-related SRs for China on the macro, meso, and micro levels, which include improving policy and the legal system, enhancing collaborative governance capacity, and strengthening public participation. This research also has reference value in the context of promoting UR for other developing countries.