Objective Against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown and the profound transformation of China’s urban-rural development model, the implementation of the national strategy of “urban regeneration action” is widely confronted with persistent challenges, including insufficient funding sources, a lack of diversity among implementing actors, and institutional and policy constraints. The current government-dominated approach to urban regeneration is facing structural bottlenecks, characterized by heavy fiscal burdens and limited flexibility in mobilizing non-governmental resources. Consequently, attracting market entities—such as enterprises engaged in investment, construction, and operation—has thus become an urgent and critical pathway for advancing urban regeneration. This study aims to address several pressing questions in current urban regeneration practices: with whom market entities cooperate, why such cooperation emerges, and what outcomes it generates. By clarifying the cooperative logic and operational conditions of urban regeneration projects, this research seeks to improve the institutional guarantees for project implementation, enhance the incentives for market entities’ participation, and ultimately promote the sustainable and normalized implementation of China’s urban regeneration action in the long run.

Methods This study introduces social network analysis (SNA) into the examination of cooperation in urban regeneration, and constructs a cooperation network prototype composed of nodes representing the “government−market−society” triad and individual regeneration projects, and edges representing interactions in terms of “capital source−physical space−operation service.” Specifically, three interrelated sub-networks are identified. The capital source network depicts the allocation of costs and benefits among multiple actors, such as fiscal funds, enterprise investment, and residents’ contributions during the regeneration process. The physical space network reflects the transformation and reconfiguration of property rights, including ownership, use rights, and income rights among multiple stakeholders. The operation service network captures the coordinated actions of diverse actors under institutional arrangements, approval procedures, contractual agreements, and governance rules throughout project implementation. Based on this network framework, the study combines semi-structured interviews with systematic text coding. From the perspectives of overall network structure, node characteristic, and cooperative alliances, a quantitative indicator system comprising 6 specific metrics is constructed. This integrated approach enables a systematic depiction of the topological structure and an analysis of the underlying mechanisms of cooperation networks among diverse actors, including state-owned enterprises, private firms, governments, and residents.

Results Using typical projects in Beijing’s central urban area as empirical samples, the study first conducts a macro-level analysis of 81 urban regeneration cases. A comprehensive textual database is established by integrating news and reports, government and enterprise promotional materials, and fieldwork interview records. Based on this database, cooperation networks for urban regeneration projects are constructed, network indicators are calculated, and cluster analysis is performed. The results identify three differentiated types of cooperation networks in Beijing’s urban regeneration—“welfare protection”, “economic growth” and “comprehensive development”—each exhibiting distinct project characteristics, network structures, key nodes, and cooperative alliances. Welfare protection-oriented networks mainly involve residential regeneration projects—such as old neighborhood and dilapidated building—as well as facility-oriented and public space projects. These networks exhibit relatively simple structures and a strong government-dominant pattern. Economic-growth-oriented networks are primarily associated with industrial regeneration projects, including old factories and commercial or office buildings. Such networks are more complex, with the highest level of participation and the greatest centrality of market entities. Comprehensive-development-oriented networks focus on area-based regeneration projects, such as historic district and functional area, and also include certain facility and public space projects with spillover effects. These networks display the highest structural complexity and a more balanced involvement of governmental, market, and social actors. Based on this, the study selects 3 representative cases—Guangming Building No. 17 in Chaoyang District, Rong Center in Chaoyang District, and the Caishikou West Area in Xicheng District—for in-depth analysis. By examining the stages of cooperation initiation, cooperation advancement, and cooperation outcomes, the study reveals the evolving participation modes and driving mechanisms of different actors. The findings show that the role of market entities in Beijing’s urban regeneration is shifting from “growth coalition” to “equitable governance”, while various state-owned enterprises, characterized by their “semi-governmental and semi-market” identity, undertake differentiated functions in financing, implementation, and operation. Through both horizontal comparisons across different regeneration types and longitudinal comparisons across project stages, the study further demonstrates that the achievement of cooperation in urban regeneration depends on a triple mechanism of “goal alignment−interest balance−conflict resolution”, in which shared goals serve as the premise, interest distribution as the focal point, and conflict resolution as the challenge. By comparing China’s experience with international cases such as business improvement districts (BID) and the Urban Regimes in western capitalist countries, the study highlights the contrast between Western regeneration systems centered on private interests and China’s public interest oriented institutional framework. In response to the practical difficulties faced by social capital participation, 15 specific policy instruments are proposed.

Conclusion By incorporating SNA into the study of urban regeneration cooperation, this research develops a cooperation network prototype and quantitative indicator system from the perspective of market-entities participation. The proposed framework enables the identification and comparison of different cooperation patterns and, through in-depth case analysis, establishes a mechanism-based analytical framework for understanding cooperative outcomes. These methodological contributions provide a methodological reference for comparative studies on urban regeneration operations in other cities in China.