Towards a Relational Account of Community Governance: Neighborhood-based Network and Residential Outcomes in Urban China

• In Event: 591 - Section on Community and Urban Sociology Paper Session. The Changing Face of Asian Cities: Toward New Theorizing

Abstract

Although it is often observed that fundamental changes in China’s community governance are in tandem with a profound restructuring of social relations in urban space, not only do few studies on community governance employ rigorous measures of social network and social capital but there is a dearth of literature elucidating why network-related frameworks are, after all, inherently related to community governance. By proposing a relational account of community governance, we investigate the role of network relations in community governance based on a collaborative survey project incorporating a series of measures of network forms of organization, network-based social capital, and neighborly interactions. We find that neighborhood-based network and neighborly interactions are significantly and positively associated with neighborhood attachment and cohesion. Yet, the existence of power relations between grassroots governments and homeowners associations is negatively associated with these two indicators of community governance. These results not only reveal new social dynamics as urban transformation is unfolding in China but lend support to a relational account of community governance.

Authors

• Qiang Fu, Duke University

• Nan Lin, Duke University