The reuse of vacant residential buildings represents a pivotal low-carbon strategy for advancing affordable and sustainable housing, supporting urban revitalization, and promoting circular economy principles in cities. However, scaling this practice from isolated cases to a mainstream, affordable solution remains constrained by the multidisciplinary nature of its challenges and the conflicting interests among diverse stakeholders.
This study aims to analyze the system of decision-making in building reuse, considering its multidisciplinary nature. It follows a three-step approach: first, identifying and categorizing the challenges of reuse from a multidisciplinary perspective; second, identifying the stakeholders involved across diverse disciplines; and third, connecting the two to explore areas of alignment, conflict, and potential collaboration.
A semi-systematic literature review followed by thematic analysis was conducted to develop a comprehensive framework encompassing ten thematic categories of reuse challenges—economic viability, policy and regulations, building conditions, design and technical issues, location, decision-making, knowledge and skills, culture and perception, surrounding community, and timeline. The analysis also identifies five key stakeholder groups: (1) owners, (2) investors, (3) government and regulatory bodies, (4) building professionals, and (5) users, community, and civil society.
The resulting stakeholder–challenge mapping reveals strong interconnections among challenge themes, with economic and financial viability emerging as a central, cross-cutting factor. Government actors play a pivotal steering role, while building professionals often act as mediators between conflicting interests. The inclusion of users, communities, and civil society is vital to ensuring the social sustainability of reuse initiatives.
The developed framework and mapping jointly provide a systemic understanding of the reuse process, revealing leverage points for cooperation, governance, and policy intervention. These insights support the broader goal of managing vacant residential buildings as valuable urban resources and advancing affordable, low-carbon housing transformation.