Residents’ willingness to pay for public spaces and shared facilities in neighbourhood renewal: a case study in Nanchang city

Neighborhood renewal is an essential approach to meeting evolving residential needs. However, its financial constraints may hinder its effective implementation, particularly as renewal increasingly involves shared facilities and services in the context of the rise of sharing economy. Existing studies have rarely investigated residents’ intentions to provide financial support during the renewal process. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing residents’ willingness to pay and the amount they are willing to contribute under different renewal plans framed within a sharing economic context. Using survey data from Nanchang, China, a binary logit model identifies the determinants of WTP, while a Tobit model estimates the contribution amounts. Results show that residents perceive green space renewal as the most valuable neighbourhood investment, followed by activity space, public EV charging stations and teleworking spaces. Interestingly, residents prefer large-scale improvements over smaller enhancements. Younger and high-income residents are more likely to pay, and male, full-time workers, and households with children tend to contribute higher amounts. In addition, people who routinely spend annual home maintenance are more willing to pay for neighbourhood renewal. These findings suggest that neighbourhood renewal should prioritize large-scale green space expansion while incorporating emerging neighbourhood facilities, such as public EV charging stations and teleworking spaces, to better meet residents’ evolving needs and preferences.