Towards a constructed order of co-governance: Understanding the state–society dynamics of neighbourhood collaborative responses to COVID-19 in urban China

Zhilin Liu, Sainan Lin, Tingting Lu, Yue Shen and Sisi Liang
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Zhilin Liu: Tsinghua University, China
Sainan Lin: Wuhan University, China
Tingting Lu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Yue Shen: East China Normal University, China
Sisi Liang: Tsinghua University, China

Urban Studies, 2023, vol. 60, issue 9, 1730-1749

Abstract: The state–society relationship in neighbourhood governance has been a focal topic in the urban governance literature, though the existing scholarship was primarily drawn from non-crisis situations. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the intricate state–society dynamics manifested at the neighbourhood scale as state and societal actors collaborated during China’s COVID-19 responses. Our study reveals a pattern of collaborative rather than confrontational dynamics between resident committees and other stakeholders during pandemic responses, which reflects the emergence of a constructed order of neighbourhood co-governance in urban China. Previous community-building reforms consolidated the political legitimacy, power and capacity of resident committees, which were empowered to play a critical coordinating role in bridging hierarchical state mobilisation and horizontal stakeholders in the collaborative pandemic responses. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of neighbourhood co-governance in the international literature and provide lessons for resilience governance from a comparative lens.

Keywords: COVID-19; neighbourhood governance; resident committees; state–society relationship; urban China; æ–°å† è‚ºç‚Ž; è¡—åŒºæ²»ç †; 居民委员会; 政府-社会关系; 中国城市 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:9:p:1730-1749

DOI: 10.1177/00420980221081314

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