Investigating Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and Sustainable Management in Urban Regeneration: Residents’ Perceived Quality of the Living Environment in Changchun, China

This study examines the relationships among crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), sustainable management, and residents’ perceived quality of the living environment in urban regeneration areas of Changchun, China. A field survey conducted from April to June 2026 yielded 710 valid questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test an integrated framework linking second-generation CPTED, first-generation CPTED, sustainable management, and perceived living-environment quality. Community cohesion, community activity, and social trust were significantly associated with first-generation CPTED spatial conditions, while natural surveillance, natural access control, territorial reinforcement, and maintenance were positively associated with sustainable management. Bootstrap analysis confirmed significant indirect effects of all four spatial constructs through sustainable management. The direct-path comparison showed that none of the four additional direct associations were statistically significant, and the inclusion of these paths did not significantly improve overall model fit. Nevertheless, all four indirect effects through sustainable management remained statistically significant. These findings highlight sustainable management as an important intermediate component linking CPTED-related spatial conditions with residents’ evaluations of regenerated neighborhoods.