Evaluating Socio-Cultural Wellbeing in Historic Chinese Neighbourhoods: A Morphological Framework for Public Space Assessment

This study introduces a typology-sensitive evaluative framework for analysing the socio-cultural dimensions of public spaces within historic Chinese neighbourhoods, addressing a gap in current urban design paradigms that prioritise physical form over lived experience and cultural continuity. While established models such as CABE and Building for Life provide robust physical and aesthetic benchmarks, they often overlook intangible dimensions, such as emotional attachment, everyday rhythms, and symbolic meaning, that are central to heritage-rich, non-Western contexts. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature and mixed qualitative methods, including systematic site observation and semi-structured interviews with residents and managers, the research identifies fifteen placemaking indicators across architectural, behavioural, and perceptual domains. These were operationalised and applied across six morphologically distinct neighbourhoods in Chengdu, ranging from traditional courtyard settlements to Danwei (socialist-era work unit) compounds and post-reform (i.e., post-1978 market-oriented housing developments in China) gated Xiaoqu developments. The results reveal that while some indicators—such as user familiarity, frequency of use, and perceived inclusion—are universally relevant, others require contextual adaptation based on governance models and spatial typologies. A typology-based classification is proposed, distinguishing universal, context-sensitive, and morphology-dependent indicators. The study contributes to urban design theory by embedding socio-cultural principles within place evaluation models and offers a transferable tool for culturally responsive regeneration in East Asian and other transitional urban contexts.