Zhu Qian is Associate Professor in the School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada. His primary research interests lie in urban land-use reform, urbanization and resettlement, planning in urban-rural interface, and urban regeneration in Chinese cities. He has published widely on these topics, including the recent books Property Rights and Urban Transformation in China (Edward Elgar, 2022) and When Formalization Fails: The Credibility of Informality in China’s Resettlement Communities (with Chen Yang, Cambridge University Press, 2026).

"Zhu Qian’s rich holistic approach to understanding the historical importance of the paradigm shift now underway in urban governance and planning in China provides an exceptionally valuable comparative framework for moving research and practice everywhere toward inclusive, socially justice, and environmental regenerative city regions in our rapidly urbanizing world."Mike Douglass, Emeritus Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa"China’s urbanisation has shifted from rapid expansion to regeneration. Reinventing the Chinese City effectively captures this transformation. It is the first comprehensive and cutting-edge account of various regeneration approaches, including neighbourhood rehabilitation, industrial heritage reuse, conservation, and ecological preservation. Zhu Qian lucidly narrates detailed cases while maintaining conceptual clarity of the big picture. Its conclusion is highly profound and insightful – despite institutional innovations and plural actors, state centrality remains in urban regeneration. This is a must-read for those seeking to understand urban changes in today’s China."Fulong Wu, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London"Why do urban regeneration projects in contemporary China often deviate from their lofty ambitions? Through case studies from Hangzhou and Xi'an, Qian's study shows how entrenched political hierarchies, commercial logics, and stakeholder coordination challenges make context-sensitive redevelopment difficult."Kyle Jaros, Associate Professor of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

• Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Urban regeneration in a territorial governance framework Chapter 3. Urban regeneration in the Socialist Era Chapter 4. Micro-scale residential neighbourhood rehabilitation Chapter 5. Republican and socialist industrial heritage reuses Chapter 6. Historic neighbourhood conservation and rehabilitation Chapter 7. Urban natural resource conservative development Chapter 8. Conclusion

Zhu Qian is Associate Professor in the School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada. His primary research interests lie in urban land-use reform, urbanization and resettlement, planning in urban-rural interface, and urban regeneration in Chinese cities. He has published widely on these topics, including the recent books Property Rights and Urban Transformation in China (Edward Elgar, 2022) and When Formalization Fails: The Credibility of Informality in China’s Resettlement Communities (with Chen Yang, Cambridge University Press, 2026).

"Zhu Qian’s rich holistic approach to understanding the historical importance of the paradigm shift now underway in urban governance and planning in China provides an exceptionally valuable comparative framework for moving research and practice everywhere toward inclusive, socially justice, and environmental regenerative city regions in our rapidly urbanizing world."Mike Douglass, Emeritus Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa"China’s urbanisation has shifted from rapid expansion to regeneration. Reinventing the Chinese City effectively captures this transformation. It is the first comprehensive and cutting-edge account of various regeneration approaches, including neighbourhood rehabilitation, industrial heritage reuse, conservation, and ecological preservation. Zhu Qian lucidly narrates detailed cases while maintaining conceptual clarity of the big picture. Its conclusion is highly profound and insightful – despite institutional innovations and plural actors, state centrality remains in urban regeneration. This is a must-read for those seeking to understand urban changes in today’s China."Fulong Wu, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London"Why do urban regeneration projects in contemporary China often deviate from their lofty ambitions? Through case studies from Hangzhou and Xi'an, Qian's study shows how entrenched political hierarchies, commercial logics, and stakeholder coordination challenges make context-sensitive redevelopment difficult."Kyle Jaros, Associate Professor of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

• Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Urban regeneration in a territorial governance framework Chapter 3. Urban regeneration in the Socialist Era Chapter 4. Micro-scale residential neighbourhood rehabilitation Chapter 5. Republican and socialist industrial heritage reuses Chapter 6. Historic neighbourhood conservation and rehabilitation Chapter 7. Urban natural resource conservative development Chapter 8. Conclusion

Zhu Qian is Associate Professor in the School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada. His primary research interests lie in urban land-use reform, urbanization and resettlement, planning in urban-rural interface, and urban regeneration in Chinese cities. He has published widely on these topics, including the recent books Property Rights and Urban Transformation in China (Edward Elgar, 2022) and When Formalization Fails: The Credibility of Informality in China’s Resettlement Communities (with Chen Yang, Cambridge University Press, 2026).

"Zhu Qian’s rich holistic approach to understanding the historical importance of the paradigm shift now underway in urban governance and planning in China provides an exceptionally valuable comparative framework for moving research and practice everywhere toward inclusive, socially justice, and environmental regenerative city regions in our rapidly urbanizing world."Mike Douglass, Emeritus Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa"China’s urbanisation has shifted from rapid expansion to regeneration. Reinventing the Chinese City effectively captures this transformation. It is the first comprehensive and cutting-edge account of various regeneration approaches, including neighbourhood rehabilitation, industrial heritage reuse, conservation, and ecological preservation. Zhu Qian lucidly narrates detailed cases while maintaining conceptual clarity of the big picture. Its conclusion is highly profound and insightful – despite institutional innovations and plural actors, state centrality remains in urban regeneration. This is a must-read for those seeking to understand urban changes in today’s China."Fulong Wu, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London"Why do urban regeneration projects in contemporary China often deviate from their lofty ambitions? Through case studies from Hangzhou and Xi'an, Qian's study shows how entrenched political hierarchies, commercial logics, and stakeholder coordination challenges make context-sensitive redevelopment difficult."Kyle Jaros, Associate Professor of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

• Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Urban regeneration in a territorial governance framework Chapter 3. Urban regeneration in the Socialist Era Chapter 4. Micro-scale residential neighbourhood rehabilitation Chapter 5. Republican and socialist industrial heritage reuses Chapter 6. Historic neighbourhood conservation and rehabilitation Chapter 7. Urban natural resource conservative development Chapter 8. Conclusion