Against the backdrop of global urban regeneration and rapid socio-economic transformation, industrial heritage located in urban centers has become an increasingly prominent focus for both academic research and planning practice. This prominence reflects growing recognition of industrial sites as complex repositories of material, social and cultural value that can inform sustainable urban regeneration strategies. However, the current trajectory of renovation often exhibits pervasive homogeneity, prioritizing generic redevelopment templates that obscure important differences in typological form, locational attributes, historical meaning, and intrinsic community values. In response, this study investigates diverse revitalization pathways for industrial heritage within urban cores, with the dual aim of diagnosing the principal pain points in contemporary renovation practice and of synthesizing context-sensitive directions and models for future interventions. Employing a critical lens, the research interrogates shortcomings embedded in prevailing renovation paradigms—such as commodification, loss of authenticity, and insufficient stakeholder engagement—and brings international perspectives into dialogue with domestic case studies. Through comparative analysis the study pinpoints specific deficiencies in China’s current approaches, while proposing reflexive, adaptive strategies that balance conservation, adaptive reuse, social inclusion and economic viability in order to foster resilient, place-sensitive urban regeneration.