Towards higher-density communities: a disruptive transition? The case of NanHuan new residential community in Suzhou, China

The Chinese National Government requires a sustainable use of resources since the 13th5-year Plan. The Plan promotes also the transformation of the residential communities built before 2000. In this transition high-density is increasingly supported.NanHuan community in Suzhou, Yangtze River Delta, was a pilot action of regeneration of an old community that demolished what existed and increased substantially its FAR. Despite the new urban environment is an upgrading of the existing housing and welfareconditions NanHuan is criticized by its inhabitants and the city officials, and was not repeated as a public-led process elsewhere in the city. This critique and its multiple reasons have been explored with both quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on the planning process, the money spent and the social sustainability.