Since the concept of renewable energy communities (RECs) was first proposed, many scholars and practitioners have consistently emphasized its significance as a citizen-led initiative in promoting low-carbon energy transitions. However, few studies have explored how such communities can be conceived and developed from an urban design perspective, enabling them to serve as an effective spatial pathway for sustainable urban regeneration. This study adopts an urban design perspective to re-examine the concept of RECs within the context of urban design，and to explore their relationship with sustainable urban regeneration. The objective is to investigate how spatial planning and design strategies can be employed to achieve the efficient and sustainable development of RECs.