Decision support for sustainable urban renewal: A multi-scale model

•This paper focuses on urban renewal decision support from a multi-scale perspective.•The proposed model focuses on city, district, and neighborhood scales.•System dynamics, land use simulation, and sustainability assessment are included in the proposed model.•The results from the model propose strategies and issues at different scales.•The model was validated through an experimental study and expert interviews.

Developed cities are troubled by various challenges, including urban dilapidation, environmental pollution, traffic congestion, lack of facility provision, and economic decline. Urban renewal, as an important agenda in most countries, holds the aim of addressing these urban problems. With the inherent complexity of urban renewal, renewal initiatives do not always follow an unsustainable path, which has obtained much criticism from both academia and the public. Therefore, an informative decision-making process would contribute to better renewal outcomes. Previous research has mainly focused on one aspect of urban renewal, in which a comprehensive perspective is lacking. The multi-scale feature of urban renewal initiatives also adds complexity and uncertainty to decision-making. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-scale model that supports decision-making on realizing sustainable urban renewal. Three sub-modules and a supporting database are included in the model. City, district, and neighborhood scales are the foci of the three sub-modules. Both temporal and spatial data are included in the database. Through experimental study and expert interview, the effectiveness of this model is validated.