This research paper examines the uprising residential redevelopment in old cities of China. China's redevelopment after 1978 has taken place under a shifting economic setting - from planned to market. With both forces influencing, conflicting initiatives have been striving to dominate the redevelopment process. This paper is to identify these underlying impetuses of residential redevelopment, to examine the trend and to propose strategies to alleviate the financial burden to the government and enhance benefits for the whole society.

This study involves mainly a comprehensive review of secondary source materials. In addition, the author's personal experiences in China are integrated. Based on these materials, policy implications for residential redevelopment in China's old cities are then extracted. Though the focus of this research is on old cities, some of the policies may serve the general purpose of urban residential redevelopment in China.