Determining Critical Success Factors of Urban Renewal Projects: Multiple Integrated Approach

With the rapid growth of the economy and urbanization in China, the challenges facing cities with respect to urban function, urban fabric, and living environment are enormous. Urban renewal projects aim to address these problems and lead to lasting improvements in physical, social, economic, and environmental aspects of urban built-up areas. The complexity and uncertainty of urban renewal projects face a high possibility of failure. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to design a systematic procedure to detect the critical success factors (CSFs) of urban renewal projects and reveal the influencing mechanism among the success factors in China. To this end, 24 final success factors were identified from a literature review, followed by the application of the Delphi method and the t-test model. Subsequently, the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method was utilized to ascertain five CSFs so that project promoters and managers could effectively monitor the performance of urban renewal projects. Furthermore, corresponding countermeasures were provided to be adopted for further urban renewal projects with the three critical influence paths. Although project promoters, land ownership, and stakeholder groups vary significantly among different countries, the useful insights and research foundations from this study are equally applicable to countries other than China.