A study of residents’ intentions to participate in the renovation of older communities under the perspective of urban renewal: evidence from Zhangjiakou, China

Community renovation involves energy conservation and emission reduction while fostering the process of urban renewal as a sustainable method of building upgrading. However, weak resident participation is the greatest obstacle to its development. This study aims to explore the psychology of the residents’ participation to stimulate their intention to participate. By combining the theory of planned behaviour with the norm activation model theory and government incentives, we collected data from 353 residents using a questionnaire and tested it using structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that government incentives, perceived behavioural control and personal norms all directly influence residents’ intentions to participate, with government incentives being the most significant influencing factor. Therefore, residents’ intentions to participate were driven by both rational and moral factors. Moreover, subjective norms and awareness of consequences had no significant effect on personal norms. Finally, the total mediating effect of subjective norms on personal norms and the moderating effect of low-income cohorts were verified. Thus, this study is a reference for the government and the community to improve the residents’ participatory statutes enhance their sense of belonging and the intention of various groups to participate and provide impetus to the urban renewal process.