Community-Initiated Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings and Sustainable Development in the Inner City of Shanghai

Abstract

This paper explores a unique case of a community-initiated urban regeneration through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in the Tianzifang district in Shanghai. The adaptive reuse of historic buildings has increasingly become a successful approach which contributes to the concept of sustainable development in many rapidly developing, densely populated Asian cities, such as Shanghai. This study aims to develop a theoretical framework for sustainable community-initiated adaptive reuse through the mixed method of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Data were collected from a case study, in-depth interviews, and surveys. This study also intends to demonstrate the positive link between community-initiated adaptive reuse and sustainable development. This study adopts a