Perceived Neighbourhood Environment, Residential Satisfaction, and Neighbourhood Attachment in China’s Old Urban Communities: Implications for Urban Regeneration

Abstract

Urban renewal in ageing neighbourhoods raises a basic question: do the same local conditions shape how residents evaluate where they live and how strongly they feel attached to it? This study examines seven dimensions of perceived neighbourhood environment in relation to residential satisfaction (RS) and neighbourhood attachment (NA) among 362 residents of old urban communities in China. Pearson correlations and simultaneous multiple regressions were used, with confirmatory factor analysis and robustness checks based on HC3 standard errors and covariate-adjusted models. All seven environmental dimensions were positively correlated with both outcomes. The primary models explained 75.1% of the variance in RS and 64.0% in NA. Environmental quality, housing and infrastructure condition, social environment, and public space and facilities showed stable associations with RS. For NA, social environment and environmental quality remained the most consistent correlates across model specifications, while the positive association with neighbourhood safety was less robust. These findings suggest that residential satisfaction and neighbourhood attachment are related but should not be treated as interchangeable outcomes in resident-centred regeneration evaluation.