What aspects of participatory design can help urban revitalisation; in particular in the restructuring of former industrial zones in China.

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Post-industrial sites in Chinese cities are being redeveloped as catalysts for the regeneration of urban areas. Examples such as Beijing's 798 Art Zone and 751 D-park are exemplars of this strategy, tuning into the creative cultures of these cities to provide platforms for creative enterprises to flourish. The success of these projects in driving the development of China's creative economy has led to a number of copy-cat redevelopment projects, creating a blueprint for the format of industrial zones and cultural parks in cities around the country. While many urban renewal projects are ambitious in seeking to foster economic growth, they often fail to respond to the different contexts of each location within the design and planning. So, although performing well commercially through providing retail and entertainment facilities, they perform poorly in providing other opportunities for developing local enterprise, or addressing social welfare needs. This is particularly pertinent for the development of local creative economies, where an understanding of local skills, trading histories, cultural heritage, and the social narratives that bind cohesive community identity, can help deliver more effective and sustainable regeneration strategies. In responding to these issues, this proposal aims to establish a multi-disciplinary research network of UK & Chinese academics to pursue research activities through engagement with cultural organisations, commercial stakeholders, and other constituent groups in both Europe and China. The investigation focuses on generating alternative strategies for sustainable urban renewal of China's post-industrial areas. In the search for new drivers of growth, China is moving from a model of expansion, to one of revitalising its urban areas. As western economies have expanded from manufacturing-based to service-orientated sectors, so the creative industries in China become increasing important in stimulating its future economic growth.This proposal focuses attention on the three Chinese cities of Shenyang, Dalian, and Wushan, Each of the areas offer particular histories, social demographics, economic characteristics, and cultural identities, that afford different opportunities for regeneration though a diversity of creative economy activities. Post-industrial sites within each city, currently earmarked for potential re-generation have been identified by the research partners, providing a focus for the research investigations in each location.Led by Liverpool John Moores University, UK, the project will run together with the three Chinese partners that include: The Public Art Centre of China National Academy of Paint (CNAP), Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA) and Dalian Polytechnic University (DPU). Academics and creative industry practitioners from these institutions will engage in a series of research activities, employing an evidence-based research methodology through each stage of the project, including case study analysis, ethnographic studies, and participatory design-led workshops. Promoting inclusion and critical analysis will be highly important in balancing potentially competing agendas such as social welfare, commercial enterprise, and centric urban renewal strategies.The delivery of spatial concepts for the urban renewal of the specified locations, an on-line web resource, industrial handbook, and series of dissemination events, plus associated publications, will provide an effective means of informing stakeholders in future planning and investment strategies, therefore answering the core needs of the audience as outlined by the research funding call.