Stakeholder Engagement Behavior(s) in Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: A Network Embeddedness Perspective

Brownfield regeneration (BR) is an important initiative for sustainable land development and the promotion of carbon neutrality. Insufficient stakeholder engagement is one of the main obstacles to the progress of BR. The relationship network formed through continuous interaction among stakeholders ensures the exchange and transfer of information resources. Different structural features of the relationship network may lead to differences in the engagement level of stakeholders. Therefore, based on network embeddedness theory, this study conducts an empirical analysis to explore the impact of the relationship network structure on engagement behavior, for the purpose of increasing the stakeholder engagement level. A theoretical model is developed, in which network centrality, behavioral willingness and involvement climate are selected as the dependent variables of engagement behavior. Using an effective sample of 245 stakeholders involved in BR from ten cities in China, we find that stakeholder network centrality positively affects engagement behavior. There is also a positive relationship between network centrality and behavioral willingness. The behavioral willingness plays an intermediary role between network centrality and engagement behavior, and the involvement climate has a moderating role between behavioral willingness and engagement behavior. Additionally, various strategies can be adopted to promote the engagement level of stakeholders. The findings are useful in establishing a benchmarking framework for BR stakeholder engagement.