Fragmented Property Rights and Residents’ Participation in Renovation of Old Communities: Comparative Case Studies in Haikou, China

Insufficient residents’ participation in the renovation of old communities is ubiquitous in urban China. This paper attempts to explain the reasons for this phenomenon. Based on the theory of anti-commons, this research intends to explore how the fragmentation of property rights impedes residents’ participation, and then unravel the mechanism of conflicts and cooperation among various stakeholders in renovation projects. Abundant qualitative data in terms of the situation of property rights were collected by semi-structured interviews from fieldwork on seven renovation projects in Haikou, Hainan Province, China. Then we compared the seven projects to examine the relationship between property rights and resident’s participation. This study shows that characteristics of residents’ participation vary from types of property rights in the renovation of old communities. Residents’ participation can be facilitated by the privatization of property rights, but fragmented property rights tend to impede participation. Meanwhile, administrative obstacles between street offices, residents’ committees, and homeowners’ associations will ebb residents’ motivation for participation. Yet the homeowners’ association plays an important role in dispute handling, which can promote residents’ involvement.