Abstract With the process of urbanisation, the world faces a conflict between growing urban populations and limited land. A large number of literatures describe many social problems caused by traditional property-led and large-scale demolition regeneration. As a result, urban regeneration is shifting towards sustainable development, where social sustainability is an emerging area of urban planning policy and practice. In this context, the trend of urban regeneration in China is micro regeneratio (weigaizao), which emphasises small-scale in-situ redevelopment and community vibrancy rather than creating land profits. This dissertation examines this micro regeneration approach and governance model behind it by taking the Beijing Baitasi Historical District (BHD) as an example, and analyses how the governance model can achieve social sustainability. The study used a qualitative approach to interview 10 stakeholders involved in the regeneration and a quantitative approach to conduct a questionnaire survey among 138 residents. The results show that the BHD regeneration has developed a coordinated government-market-resident governance structure which is based on a government-dominated property rights structure, which reflects the role of the state. The state uses land development models, national strategic objectives and project-oriented governance to implement strategies aimed at social sustainability. Not only that, micro regeneration has an initial character of social sustainability. By government dominance as the guarantee, commercialisation as the path, and people’s rights and power as the basis can the governance structure fulfil the objectives of social sustainability. The challenges are the dominance of the government being the obstacles to commercialisation, residents’ lacking direct and diverse channels for feedback and needs, and the complex property right structure. These findings provide lessons for the future urban regeneration in China.

As the urban population in Indonesia is growing, limited availability of land, especially in big cities, causes microgrounded housing phenomenon to emerge. However, the social sustainability aspects of this housing model are little understood. This research seeks to understand the potential social implications on residents who live in micro-grounded housing in Indonesia. The adverse effects of crowding from case studies all around the world are being collected, combined with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and the housing value framework created by McCray and Day, are used to measure the social sustainability of the residents in Surabaya, one of the biggest cities in Indonesia. Combining interviews with empirical observations, this study used two opposite case studies: micro-grounded housing and standard-sized vertical housing, as a comparison to understand the distinct characteristic of the former. This study found that micro-grounded housing caters to fewer human needs and therefore only satisfies the lower part of Maslow’s hierarchy. When the basic daily need has not been fully satisfied, the urge to higher needs of housing value such as social interaction, prestige, and beauty, does not occur as this research found. A recommendation is made for more strict enforcement of space standards, for both building and plot size. Additionally, another form of housing such as co-living model could be an alternative to provide social sustainability through provision of more communal facilities. Moreover, the housing strategies need to focus not only on increasing the quantity of the house but also on its quality to reach a higher level of social sustainability.