Building ‘Community’: New Strategies of Governance in Urban China

Bray, David Barton

doi:10.1080/03085140600960799

Cited by 198 publications

(144 citation statements)

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“…In other words, where new localists see important opportunities for building cogovernance on a municipal scale, the nature of this possible co-governance is insufficiently specified and the reality looks more like the hierarchical governance perceived by theorists of the first kind; that is, a complex system of multiscalar governance integrated vertically and horizontally through Third Way rescaling strategies as described earlier in this article. Community promotion, as described by DeFilippis et al (2006: 682), invokes 'community' as 'a form of organisation through which ordinary people can mobilise their interests in opposition to those of the state, or of larger global forces' (Bray, 2006: 532; see also Fung and Wright, 2003, on 'countervailing power', and, for examples of such organisation, Kingsnorth, 2003, andWainwright, 2003). Community promotion involves seizing opportunities both for alternative economic development, through a range of forms of co-operative organisation, and for expanded democratic practice, as a result of autonomous community organisations challenging and negotiating with state representatives.…”

Section: Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscalarity and Neighbourhood Governance

Somerville

2010

Public Policy and Administration

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This article deploys a concept of multiscalarity to criticise current theoretical approaches to governance and to make sense of neighbourhood governance. Drawing on Kooiman's distinction between hierarchical, self-and co-governance, it is argued, first, that state strategies need to be reexamined in the light of the multiscalarity of governance. Using the example of the neighbourhood and evidence from the author's own research, the article then provides a detailed illustration of governance multiscalarity. The article has two notably original findings: empirically, only community and residents' associations have sufficient independence to resist governmental forces on the neighbourhood scale (and these associations have to scale up their activities in order to have any chance of success); and theoretically, the societal predominance of hierarchical governance can be explained largely in terms of asymmetry in the conditions for trans-scalar organisation, with coordination from top downwards being typically easier to achieve than from bottom upwards.Keywords co-governance, governance, hierarchy, multiscalarity, neighbourhood, self-governance Multiscalarity strategies to improve competitiveness and regulation and those that emphasise 'community'-centred legitimating strategies. This article aims to evaluate these different explanatory approaches using a concept of multiscalarity. It argues that explaining governance requires particular attention to be paid to the scales on which governance occurs.Multiscalarity can be defined most simply as a property of trans-scalar action, or acting across more than one geographical scale. It refers to a general feature of

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Section: Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscalarity and Neighbourhood Governance

Somerville

2010

Public Policy and Administration

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“…An 'information revolution' is leading to ample manifestations of opposition to the status quo (Zhou, 2008), where urban heritage increasingly is at the centre of media attention 1 ; --There is a rising awareness of cultural and other intangible values embedded in historic quarters, especially among professionals (Ruan, 1993) (Bray, 2006), this paper will research how the urban regeneration practices of historic areas can contribute to a general urban planning theory. It will also assess the spatial and social issues underlying the conservation of the historic environment that create contention between different contrasting voices (Pendlebury, 2008 (Spires, 2011).…”

Section: Governance Of Urban Regeneration For Historic Areas In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the incipient Chinese civil society playing a role in regenerating historic urban areas? Evidence from Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai

Verdini

2015

Habitat International

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Urban regeneration in Western countries can count on a long--lasting tradition of experiences in which civil society has played a fundamental role in counterbalancing the system of power, resulting in profound urban governance readjustments. This has been the result of the increasing centrality of horizontal alliances between citizens and associations involved in urban affairs since the late 1960s in the West. Similar theoretical frameworks have been applied in China.However, these have frequently resulted in conceptual shortcuts that depict civil society as immature or lacking and the state as authoritarian. This paper will explore whether these categories are still entirely valid to urban regeneration in China. While the regime has traditionally prevented horizontal linkages of associations in urban governance (supporting their vertical integration to ensure a certain degree of soft control), there are signs of change. In particular, three cases of urban regeneration in historic areas will be used to discuss the changing role played by civil society in China. The ultimate goal is to examine whether horizontal linkages across groups of heterogeneous citizens are arising at the micro--level of urban governance. Keywords Urban regeneration; historic districts; horizontal linkages; community; civil society; China Introduction Western urban planning practices, which arose during the twentieth century, have been mainly (and deeply) shaped by opposite ideologies, either in favour of a central role of the state or of a free market in society and economy. The former has been accused of leading to centralised and 'command control' policymaking, featuring economic inefficiency and democratic tightening; the latter leading to unwanted individualistic behaviours and a constrained role of government, the preconditions of any market failure. A minority stream has advocated a communitarian and self--organised management strategy for city transformation. Overall, the tension between the state, market and community--centred planning has shifted interest to institutional analysis and communicative approaches in planning theory in an attempt to frame the challenges of planning within systems undergoing policy rescaling and increasing societal fragmentation (Healey, 1997). 2The urban regeneration practice, in particular, is quite paradigmatic of such tension especially when applied to historic areas. The articulation of voices around historic areas is growing much more complex than for other ordinary urban transformations, ranging from local citizens directly affected by the regeneration projects to external societal components intellectually committed to protect the universalistic heritage value embedded in historic areas.

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“…The term ÔShe-quÕ refers to a both sociological concept and a geographical concept in Chinese: firstly, it is a demarcated spatial unit with clear geographical boundaries; more importantly, it refers to a street-level administration system (Bray, 2006). In most cities, the two-tier S-R system plays the administrating body of She-qu.…”

Section: She-qumentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing governmentalities of neighborhood governance in China: a genealogical exploration

Wan

2015

Critical Policy Studies

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Building ‘Community’: New Strategies of Governance in Urban China

Cited by 198 publications

References 6 publications

Multiscalarity and Neighbourhood Governance

Multiscalarity and Neighbourhood Governance

Is the incipient Chinese civil society playing a role in regenerating historic urban areas? Evidence from Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai

Changing governmentalities of neighborhood governance in China: a genealogical exploration

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