Strategies for the sustainable redevelopment of residential buildings in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The current condition of central Ulaanbaatar’s residential buildings and their associated infrastructure is in a critical state. It is important to study the current urban renewal process in Ulaanbaatar city, with a focus on solving recognized practical problems that arose from the necessity to improve a city centre neighbourhood. This study investigated how the redevelopment process of residential buildings in Ulaanbaatar city, Mongolia can be implemented in a sustainable way. It explored potential issues associated with residential redevelopment; analysis and integration of the research findings provides a framework for sustainable residential redevelopment.<br><br>A combined quantitative and qualitative research approach was used in this study. The researcher conducted a questionnaire survey to residents living in Ulaanbaatar and interviewed stakeholders and government authorities, to obtain a better understanding of potential problems which may influence redevelopment. <br><br>The survey of residents in dilapidated buildings established the nature of resident’s opinions of urban renewal and identified the condition of their buildings. It showed that they had strong concerns about whether redevelopment involving new multi-storey redevelopments built on site of their current residences is appropriate for the area and how it might influence their interest. The interviews with building professionals and local community representatives helped to ascertain issues affecting the refurbishment or redevelopment of dilapidated residential buildings. Discussions with personnel from relevant government agencies produced a deeper understanding of current urban renewal policy in Ulaanbaatar city, existing and prospective issues for urban renewal, and generated suggestions to deal with them.<br><br>The survey findings were aligned with the triple bottom line principles of sustainability and further categorized into different phases of a project life cycle, based on which a framework was developed to support the sustainable residential redevelopment. The framework integrated critical factors and issues likely to affect the residential redevelopment in the different phases of a project. At the end of the study the framework was validated through a questionnaire survey among urban development experts to determine whether a framework reasonably fulfils its intended use. It is expected that the framework will help to deal with existing issues and avoid potential problems associated with residential redevelopment in Ulaanbaatar city. Also, the study will contribute to the general field of urban renewal studies. <br>