Objective Urban regeneration has become a critical component of sustainable urban development, especially as Chinese cities transform from large-scale expansion to stock-based optimization. Within this transformation, traditional old city neighborhoods represent the most challenging yet urgent targets for regeneration. These areas are characterized by high density, fragmented property rights, aging infrastructure, and the need to balance cultural heritage preservation with contemporary demands for livability, environmental performance, and low-carbon development. Green assessment systems at the neighborhood/community scale — such as BREEAM-Communities (UK), LEED-ND (US), CASBEE-UD (Japan), and DGNB-UD (Germany) — have matured over the past two decades, providing systematic frameworks that integrate environmental, social, and economic dimensions. However, the existing research primarily focuses on new development contexts, leaving a gap in strategies for traditional neighborhoods with unique spatial and governance constraints. This research therefore aims to explore how international green assessment tools can inform adaptive regeneration strategies for traditional old city neighborhoods in China. The research introduces a dual-dimensional “goal – process” framework that not only responds to global sustainability objectives but also addresses the full cycle of planning, construction, and management. Taking Beijing’s traditional neighborhoods as an example, the research seeks to demonstrate how generalized frameworks can be transformed into specialized tools that guide context-sensitive and operable regeneration strategies.

Methods The research adopts a multi-step research pathway. First, a systematic review of four representative international green neighborhood assessment systems is conducted to extract key indicators. These indicators are mapped and reorganized into a general “goal – process” framework: The goal dimension encompasses environmental, social, and economic sustainability (aligned with the United Nation’s “3E” principle), while the process dimension covers planning, construction, and management stages. Second, the framework is refined into a universal strategy system through indicator integration and reclassification, ensuring operability across diverse neighborhood regeneration contexts. Third, the framework is applied to Beijing’s traditional neighborhoods, where field surveys, spatial data analysis, and community/stakeholder interviews are carried out. The general framework is further adapted into a specialized regeneration framework by adjusting indicator priorities, identifying specific contradictions, and formulating targeted strategies. Furthermore, the research team integrates relevant data — including the environmental characteristics of neighborhood location, the constraint factors from higher-level planning, and the spatial characteristics of neighborhood courtyards — with textual data for overall analysis. This process helps identify the case’s characteristics as well as the key priorities and difficulties in the regeneration work. Then, based on the aforementioned specialized framework, the team leverages corresponding key strategies to conduct targeted regeneration and transformation.

Results The results highlight both theoretical contributions and practical applications. First, framework innovation: The general “goal – process” framework successfully bridges international assessment standards with China’s local regeneration contexts. Unlike static indicator systems, it emphasizes multi-objective sustainability and full-cycle governance, offering a flexible and operable strategy matrix. Second, case-based adaptation: Applied to Beijing’s old city neighborhoods, the framework clarifies regeneration priorities such as density optimization, functional mix, public space enhancement, and resilience building. Third, diagnostic insights: Empirical analysis reveals three distinctive pathways. 1) functional integration and energy efficiency — e.g., courtyard regeneration through mixed-use design and underground space development; 2) perceptual greening — introducing algorithms to measure and optimize residents’ visual perception of greenery, which guides the placement of vertical greening and green materials; 3) stakeholder negotiation — quantifying divergent demands (residential rights, commercial capacity, and public services) through text-mining and spatial modeling, which facilitates consensus building in previously stalled projects. Finally, performance verification: The framework proves effective in converting abstract sustainability goals into actionable regeneration measures. It not only identifies the contradictions between heritage preservation and livability improvement but also offers scalable strategies adaptable to various neighborhood conditions.

Conclusion This research demonstrates that integrating international green assessment tools into a general “goal – process” framework provides both conceptual clarity and practical operability for the regeneration of traditional old city neighborhoods. Unlike conventional evaluation systems that emphasize comprehensive but rigid indicators, the proposed approach is open, adaptive, and problem-oriented. By combining systematic indicator mapping with empirical case validation, the framework offers a pathway to balance universal sustainability goals with local specificities. Its contributions are threefold: 1) Advancing theoretical understanding of how assessment systems can be transformed into strategy-oriented frameworks for incremental regeneration; 2) providing a replicable methodological process — diagnosis, prioritization, and adaptation — that can be applied to other historic urban areas; and 3) supporting policy and design decisions with evidence-based, context-sensitive strategies. Overall, the research enriches the toolkit for sustainable neighborhood regeneration in China and offers international relevance by demonstrating how global frameworks can be localized to address the complexities of heritage-based urban regeneration. Looking forward, future research should further integrate carbon accounting, resilience modeling, and digital twin technologies to enhance dynamic evaluation. In doing so, the proposed framework has the potential not only to enrich the global discourse on sustainable urban regeneration but also to inform practical pathways for cities worldwide that face the dual challenge of heritage preservation and green transformation.