Policy-making and Deliberation in Urban Village Regeneration in China

The objective of this research is to explore the role and outcomes of democratic deliberation as a political instrument for district and local administrations in the urban village regeneration process under China’s New-type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020). The purpose of the research is to use detailed field research to inquire into deliberative practices regarding urban village regeneration to advance the theoretical concept of “deliberative system”. In particular, this research looks at the role of Chinese rural regimes (which combine village committees and village party branches) in the regeneration process, as well as the citizens’ reactions to the deliberations led by local governments and their grassroots level branches. Empirically, the investigation focuses on two stages of the urban village regeneration programme. First, the thesis discusses how the local government can relieve the conflicts resulting from public resistance as well as enhance the effectiveness of the programme. Second, it discusses the transformation of the grassroots level governance system regarding the regenerated urban village community, including the transformation from the village governance system to an urban community governance system and the integration of villagers as ordinary citizens. Throughout, deliberation plays a significant role in both policy-making and policy implementation process.

Deliberation in the context of urban village regeneration is part of a complex, scalar, political-administrative system, with many actors whose activities are often not aligned. Although this configuration has authoritarian traits and operates largely without the protection of a strong and well-functioning rule of law, it is not all-sovereign. One of the most fascinating aspects of urban village deliberation is the way that it reveals the limits of authoritarian rule. As the thesis shows, the Party encounters the same problems of technical, social and institutional complexity, with the ensuing limits on vertical steering, as experienced by administrations in democratic countries. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between democratic deliberation and public policy making, and the theory of deliberative systems.