Does resident participation in an urban regeneration project improve neighborhood satisfaction: A case study of "Amichojang" in Busan, South Korea

One of the keys to successfully facilitating urban regeneration projects is to encourage resident participation, because participation produces more than just outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether the residents' participation in urban regeneration projects also increases residents' neighborhood satisfaction. Seeking to address this gap, our study examines the relationship between urban regeneration projects and residents' satisfaction, focusing on 'Amichojang' in Busan, South Korea. We collect 292 valid survey data and then geocode them based on their specific home address to consider spatial characteristics of their residential locations. We also employ an ordered probit model to account for our dependent variable measured as a five-point Likert scale. Our empirical results show that resident participation in urban regeneration projects is positively associated with improvement of neighborhood satisfaction. This result suggests that encouraging local resident participation in urban regeneration projects is significant for the success of these projects. However, there exist gender and age differences in the relationship between participation and neighborhood satisfaction. Therefore, various programs that can encourage more participation in urban regeneration projects should be designed for different demographic groups.