Conference Agenda

Problem Statement and Purpose

Beyond governments and markets, self-governance is an essential form of alternative service delivery. Numerous studies have shown that leadership is one of the crucial variables in achieving and maintaining self-governance.

In the past two decades, a developmental paradox has emerged in rural China: the rural economy has continuously developed, and farmers' incomes have consistently risen, while the rural commons, especially community-based service delivery, such as collective actions on nature resource governance, maintenance of infrastructure, and management of the living environment, have declined to a certain extent. Research indicates that factors such as massive labor out-migration and an aging population have eroded the leadership of local communities, thereby leading to low effectiveness in self-governance and public service delivery.

In recent years, under the backdrop of Rural Revitalization, the Chinese government has implemented the Rural Work Team (RWT) policy, which involves designating educated, proficient, and capable urban civil servants to station and work in rural areas for a period to assist with local development. This article reveals that, compared to similar villages without Stationed Civil Servants (SCSs), the selected villages have experienced a notable enhancement in self-governance and offered more community-based public services.

This article explores how external leadership (delegated SCSs) fills leadership vacancies in rural areas, facilitating self-governance and community-based service delivery, and how they differ from traditional native leadership.

Methodology

This article uses a case study approach. From 2021 to 2023, the author interviewed SCSs, native public servants, village leaders, leaders of self-organizations, and rural residents from 12 villages in Chongqing and Jiangxi province, China, of which eight had RWTs or SCSs while the other four did not.

Through in-depth interviews and grounded theory, this article analyzes the leadership traits and public service motivations of SCSs and the interaction between external leadership and local communities. It summarizes how external leadership promotes self-governance and community-based service delivery.

Findings

Subjectively, SCSs have strong public service motivations (PSM) and receive corresponding policy support and political incentives. Objectively, they can utilize their political influence and charisma to garner support, mobilize ample social capital and material resources, and leverage new technologies to address rural collective action dilemmas. Thus, SCSs have an advantage in facilitating self-governance and community-based service delivery compared to traditional native leadership.

In essence, SCSs, local communities, and upper-level government jointly form a nested multi-level governance system. External leadership plays a crucial role in reinforcing self-governance and alternative service delivery.

Proposals

To avert the insufficient alternative service delivery resulting from a lack of self-governance in local communities, the public sector should provide more sophisticated external leadership like SCSs to developing and less-developed areas, accompanied by substantive policy support and institutional incentives.

This institutional arrangement requires long-term persistence, and it is crucial to prevent local communities from relying overly on external leadership in the process. After all, the ultimate goal of providing external leadership is to cultivate high-quality native endogenous leadership, which can independently provide adequate alternative service delivery to respond to social demands.

References

[1] Ostrom E. Beyond markets and states: Polycentric governance of complex economic systems[J]. American Economic Review, 2010, 100(3): 641-72.

[2] Ostrom E. A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems [J]. Science, 2009, 325(5939): 419-422.

[3] Sarker A. The role of state‐reinforced self‐governance in averting the tragedy of the irrigation commons in Japan[J]. Public Administration, 2013, 91(3): 727-743.

[4] Shu Q, Wang Y. Collaborative leadership, collective action, and community governance against public health crises under uncertainty: a case study of the Quanjingwan community in China[J]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021, 18(2): 598.

[5] Wang Y H, Chen C L, Araral E. The effects of migration on collective action in the commons: Evidence from rural China[J]. World Development, 2016, 88: 79-93.

Problem Statement and Purpose

Problem statement:

With the rapid development of urbanization, the abundant resources and opportunities possessed by cities continue to attract the inflow of foreigners, which not only injects vitality into urban development, but also poses challenges to urban governance. In particular, old urban communities are faced with social problems such as large scale old commercial buildings, dilapidated blocks, aging population, single governance structure, and lack of public spirit, which have gradually become a prominent difficulty in urban governance.

Purpose:

The governance of old urban communities is a common problem faced by all countries in the world. Based on the perspective of urban renewal, this paper aims to solve the challenges faced by the governance of old urban communities and put forward an effective path for reference.

Methodology

This paper adopts the qualitative research method, selects the typical case of the governance of the old community in a specific city to analyze, summarizes the experience and enlightenment, and puts forward the effective path. Although the case analysis has certain particularity, it does provide some ideas for reference and reference.

Findings

The old urban community is a special type of urban community, with dense population, aging buildings, obsolete planning and complex composition of residents. Different from European and American countries, China's urbanization started late. Besides the old time and material dimension, the old urban communities also contain the complexity of the transformation from the management mode of unit housing to the new community management mode. Based on the characteristics of the property right structure, resident composition and institutional structure of the old community, the governance of the old urban community in China needs targeted research.

Proposals

The governance of old urban communities in China needs to implement the development concept of "the people's city is built by the people, and the people's city is for the people" to enhance the sense of gain and happiness of urban residents. Improve the governance efficiency and vitality of old urban communities through party building leadership, government initiative, social participation, technology empowerment, cultural heritage and other ways.

References

Jiang Liu, Yidong Fu, Shengtao Shi. 2021. Exploration of social governance innovation in old urban communities under the background of old city reconstruction: A case study of X Street in Guangzhou. Journal of South China University of Technology (Social Science Edition), 23(1):84-92.

Yuyang Li. 2019. Two-way integration: community governance innovation in urban renewal——Taking Y community construction in Shanghai as an example. Journal of Fujian Administration Institute, (5):110-120.

Xiaoming Xu, Xiaole Xu. 2020. Social forces participate in the construction of community governance system for the renovation of old residential areas. Urban Problems, (8):74-80.

Problem Statement and Purpose

Since the reform and opening to the outside, China’s public service system has been always improving and standardizing, and the quantity and quality of public services have been increasing constantly. However, with the upgrading of national economic level and people’s living standards, people’s needs for public services have changed greatly, and their expectations for public service supply capacity are becoming higher. They expect government not only to improve the quality of service delivery, but also to provide more efficient, effective and convenient services. Currently, the main social contradiction in China has been changed to the mismatch between the people’s increasing expectation for better life and the unbalanced and insufficient development. Therefore, the absence, dislocation and offside of public service supplies and needs caused by non-unified service standards, non-collaborated online and offline services, insufficient data-sharing or unbalanced urban and rural developments, all of which forced the government to innovate its public service delivery system further more.

Methodology

desk study

policy analysis and literature review

Findings

‘One-Stop Government Services' is an important measure to further optimize public services and to improve administrative effectiveness based upon the needs of companies and the public. As for some public services that highly appeared with broad coverage and more problems in the practices of reforming and improving business environment, Chinese government accelerates its construction of a standardized, regulated and convenient public service delivery system, driven by both of reform guiding and digital enabling.

Proposals

In order to provide a China’s case for us to exchange and learn from each other, the paper analyzes the under-grounding, significance and values of the ‘One-Stop Government Services' from the perspective of whole-of-government cross-agency collaboration, and suggests to apply such a new-typed public service system to tackle the problem of supply-need mismatching from the aspects of channel building, mode innovating, digital enabling, coverage enlarging plus effectiveness increasing, and work securing.

References

1.国务院关于进一步优化政务服务提升行政效能 推动“高效办成一件事”的指导意见，国发【2024】3号；

2.国务院关于加快推进政务服务标准化规范化便利化的指导意见，国发【2022】5号。

Problem Statement and Purpose

Compared to the previous approach of separating man from nature in the Nature Reserve Model, the National Park Model emphasizes their harmonious coexistence. In the global era of climate change, it is critical to explore new ways to balance ecological conservation and economic growth in national parks, so as to promote the sustainable community development. At the same time, the communities in China’s national parks have complex characteristics such as a large population base, low levels of economic and social development, and a strong dependence on natural resources. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a balance between community livelihoods and national park protection.

Methodology

The Three-River-Source National Park is the first and largest national park in China, situated in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and contains the headwaters of three major rivers in Asia, including the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Mekong River. This area is also home to Tibetan herdsmen and many different species of alpine plants and wild animals. Based on field research and related interviews in the three villages of Angsai Township located in this National Park, we understand community perceptions and responses to climate change, analyze limiting factors to community participation, and then propose sustainable pathways for participation.

Findings

It is evident that the community's perception of climate change is clear, indicating a gradual shift from the traditional way of life and a strengthened intrinsic drive for ecological protection. However, community participation in the establishment of national parks faces a number of challenges, including limited opportunities for participation, low levels of enthusiasm, and insufficient concession capacity.

Proposals

From this point of view, this paper proposes to increase opportunities for community involvement by emphasizing the growth of Eco-industries. The core of this approach is to prioritize system guarantees and broaden pathways to participation, in addition, the use of alternative services to increase community participation capacity. In order to achieve a "win-win" situation for ecological protection and economic development in the "Water Tower of China", a new national park system need to be established.

References

Abukari, H; Mwalyosi, R.B. Local communities’ perceptions about the impact of protected areas on livelihoods and community development. Global Ecology and Conservation 2020, 22, e00909.

IPCC, 2023: Sections. In: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 35-115.

Ma, T; Jia, LZ; Zhong, LS; Gong, XY; Wei, Y. Governance of China’s Potatso National Park Influenced by Local Community Participation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2023, 20, 807.