Exploring the institutional dilemma and governance transformation in China's urban regeneration: Based on the case of Shanghai Old Town

Urban regeneration in the historic core of Chinese cities largely follows one of two possibilities – ‘demolition-reconstruction,’ by tearing down old houses to make room for new development, and ‘frozen protection,’ designating no-growth areas around certain historical sites and neighborhoods. While these approaches have the potential to preserve recognized cultural values, they can lead to fragmented and uneven built environments as well as limited historic preservation and infrastructure development achievements. In this paper, we discuss the institutional constraints faced by the transformation of regeneration approaches using the cases of Shanghai's historic Old Town area and propose a theoretical framework for analyzing the ‘structure-discourse-tools' interactions in the urban regeneration dilemma from the lens of sociological institutionalism. Our analysis reveals that discourse plays the role of problem framing through the operation of the power structure, while institutional tools are responsible for materializing the discourse. We argue that innovative approaches in urban regeneration should step outside of the conventional ‘control’ and ‘design’ tools but seek a more inclusive governance structure that prioritizes and materializes new discourse. Our study provides a transferable theoretical framework for better understanding complexity and institutional dilemma in global urban regeneration cases and guiding creative transformation in historical area's regeneration projects.