As an Explainer or Communicator? The Rigidity-Flecibility Disorder in Governance of Sub-district Offices During Urban Regeneration: Based on the Research in Qinhuai District of Nanjing
Abstract：
Urban regeneration is currently a key task in China. Sub-district offices undertake complex work throughout the entire process of urban regeneration projects. However, they often fall into a dilemma which we call it as “rigidity-flexibility disorder”. In this paper, we did a field work in Qinhuai District of Nanjing,which made deep interview with local executive officers in three sub-district governments and through nine different urban renewal projects, and analyzed the manifestations, causes and solutions of this dilemma. The main conclusions are as follows. Firstly, when the governance flexibility is excessive, sub-district offices have been in a high risk of discretion in decision-making, and it is also busy to explain and coordinate with multiple stakeholders; when the governance is too rigid, sub-district offices also encounter restrictions in plan-making, resulting in low efficiency in accomplishing any renewal projects. Secondly, from the perspective of political communication theory in western politics, the “rigidity-flexibility disorder” is rooted in the imbalance between the opposition and the unity of roles both as a “communicator” and “explainer” that sub-district offices play. In this regard, this paper provides some policy implications. When dealing with flexibility policy, sub-district offices should play the role of “explainer”. It is necessary to strengthen the administrative autonomy of sub-district offices in urban regenaration issues, to set up a fault-tolerant mechanism, to provide technical support and approval in organization. Also, it needs to ease the tasks from superior government to promote governance cooperatively. When pursuing rigid policy, sub-district offices should play the role of “communicator”. It ought to establish effective means of communication between different stakeholders, to specify rules and technical standards in rebuilding, and to clarify mandatory and normative measures.