Situated Regenerativity: A Relational Framework for Socio‐Ecological Transformation

Amidst converging ecological, social and political crises, regenerativity is gaining traction as a paradigm for urban transformation, seeking to bridge material innovation with social change by integrating socio‐cultural and ecological systems. Yet despite its promise, the concept remains diffuse and open to varied interpretation in practice. This paper applies an Urban Political Ecology (UPE) lens to examine how the material–social integration central to regenerativity thinking is co‐produced, negotiated and constrained in practice. Drawing on three years of transdisciplinary research across Bhutan, Indonesia and South Africa, we analyse how regenerative transitions in the built environment are shaped by ecological histories, institutional arrangements and power relations. Our findings show that integrating material and social dimensions is an inherently political process, mediated by these dynamics in ways that both enable and constrain transformative change. Rather than proposing a fixed framework, we conceptualise regenerativity as a situated and contested praxis that takes shape differently across diverse geographies. Its potential lies not in universality but in its capacity to be translated through place‐specific struggles, cultural meanings and political conditions.