Neighbourhood Committees and Community Service Delivery In China
Abstract In recent years, major environmental and planning issues have served to mobilise local communities and raise political consciousness. In response, many government authorities have embarked on pursuing policies aimed at decentralising certain services in order to increase community consultation. With this in mind, the author reports on the use of neighbourhood committees for local service delivery in Chinese cities. Following a discussion of the meaning of a neighbourhood in China, the author outlines the role and organisation of a neighbourhood committee in the City of Tianjin, and then discusses its possible relevance for local government administration in Australia.
The Urban Communes and Anti-City Experiment in Communist China
Social critics and intellectuals since Sir Thomas More have subjected growing urban industrial centres to sweeping criticism. Much of city planning in the West is characterised by reassertion of rural values and rural self-sufficiency. The anti-city approach often takes the form of ‘planning Utopian communities in the country, free from the “excesses of urbanism.” However, in an industrialising country like China a different theme underlies the view of country-city relations. In predominantly rural China, and in the U.S.S.R. during early years of industrialisation, the emphasis of city planning shifts to the need to bring cities and industry to the land. The aim has been to spread industrial values and techniques to rural areas.
Unemployment and Underemployment in the People's Republic of China
Communist China's experiences with unemployment and underemployment are examined focusing on the manifestations and causes of unemployment. Communist China originally felt that underemployment could be converted into productive activity through social reform and political control. Evidence indicates that this hope could not be fulfilled within the existing technological framework of Chinese agriculture. It became necessary to modernize agriculture and relegate the industrialization drive to a reduced priority. City unemployment was initially regarded as a passing phenomenon resulting from the war. When it persisted, the Chinese leaders tried to reduce it by stemming the tide of rural migration. In addition, labor-intensive crafts were introduced. Eventually, excess labor had to be sent to the villages to assist in the reconstruction and modernization of agriculture. Overall, local initiative has an important role to play in the employment of people at various levels of production. Chinese leaders continue to view the underutilization of labor from a positive perspective and are seeking to mobilize this manpower for productive purposes.