Impact of social capital on residents' willingness to participate in old community renewal in China: Mediating effect of perceived value

Old community renewal (OCR) in China have distinct characteristics, which is unlike other government-led public affair, these projects entail extensive participation from the residents in the decision-making process. However, residents' participation willingness is often influenced by the complex social capital among them, which in turn affects satisfaction with the renewal projects. Based on Stimulus-Organization-Response (SOR) theory, this paper aims to identify the relationships between residents' willingness and their social capital in the context of OCR, with the perceived value as a mediator. Data from 804 residents was collected using questionnaire surveys through both online and offline channels and was analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that social networks and social trust have a positive effect on residents' willingness to participate, while the impact of social norms is not significant. Moreover, perceived value plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between social capital and residents' willingness to participate. These finding contributes to a better understanding of residents' participation willingness in OCR projects and provides important insights for the design of initiatives that effectively inspire participation willingness among residents.