Participatory landscape renewal in old communities：social action to strengthen urban resilience

At present, old residential communities in China are facing many problems, mainly including environmental degradation, aging facilities and weak management. As the urban developing mode transforming from "incremental" expansion to "stock" renewal, it is being more and more necessary to improve the old community’s resilience and optimize its physical space and social environment. This study elaborates main participants and models in the process of participatory landscape renewal in old communities, selecting Ying Shui li community in Tianjin as case study area. The study puts forward a participatory landscape renewal method that combines landscape renewal workshop with community participatory map, visualizes and records community issues. And it clarifies the potential of the method to conduct community issues discussion, to awaken the potential creativity of the public by involving ordinary residents in community-decision-making and design. Multi-participants, including designers, government departments and community residents, would benefit from the method, being able to jointly engage in defining community issues, making decisions and transformation plans. Meanwhile, the method helps improve the quality of community landscape and enhance urban resilience as well.