Changing social capital under impact of urban renewal: a case study of Chongqing, China

Urban renewal in China often involves large scale demolition of built-up areas and inhabitants are often subjects to forced eviction and involuntary resettlement, which can lead to the dissolution of social networks with comprehensive social impact as a result. Many qualitative methods are available to study this problem, but they lack quantitative aspects to substantiate the changing social capital of citizens under impact of urban renewal. This research is based on SEM along with direct comparison of survey respondents’ evaluations of the impact of citizens on social capital, in the urban renewal project in Shibati, Chongqing, China. Chongqing is characterized by its mountainous terrain, and the historic blocks are unique in its geographic environment and historical background. The main data used in this research were collected in Chongqing using a questionnaires survey conducted in December 2018. We classified our respondents into three social groups based on their housing location affected by the urban renewal: resettle to another place, relocated after urban renewal; resident lived around urban renewal area. This research will help us understand how three types of citizens’ social capital change after urban renewal. Whether this change situation will causes social exclusion, then looking for advanced experience to find good ways to solve the problems. Finally, we rebuild operation mechanism of urban renewal both combining the research area background and advanced experience.