Is Relationship Quality a Matter? Procedural Fairness and Citizen Acceptance for Policy in Urban Renewal

Procedural fairness has long been recognized as critical to citizen acceptance of urban renewal initiatives. However, research examining the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remains limited, hindering effective policy implementation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how relationship quality dimensions—specifically citizen satisfaction, citizen recognition, and citizen trust—mediate the link between procedural fairness and citizen acceptance. Drawing on survey data from 409 respondents across three communities in China that experienced urban renewal projects and employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis, our findings demonstrate that procedural fairness positively influences citizen acceptance, with citizen satisfaction and citizen recognition serving as partial mediators in this relationship, while citizen trust shows no significant mediating effect. These findings advance the literature by elucidating the distinct procedural fairness pathways through which citizens develop acceptance toward urban renewal policies, while also revealing the nuanced roles that different relational dimensions play in this process.