Social Transformation And Governance Growth: Study On Metropolitan Governance Of Shanghai

The reform and opening-up from 1978 has started the all-round and deeply transformation of contemporary Chinese society, which means transformation from a society where the planned economic system occupied the leading position into a society where the market economic system occupied the leading position, and transformation from a closed, homogeneous and ethic rural society to an open, heterogenetic and legal industrial society. Urbanization is an important factor that characterized the social transformation of contemporary China, and the government becomes one of main forces to directly drive the social transformation of contemporary China. However, the government is also realizing its own transition in the course of social transformation, so as to constantly meet the changing social environment.With the rapid development of Chinese Modernization since the reform and opening up to the outside world, the process of urbanization has also made enormous development achievement. The metropolis is the collecting and distributing centre of funds, materials, talents, information and technologies in present day, and it shows its importance increasingly. The overall and deeply social transformation since reform and opening-up has re-made a brand-new metropolis in some degree. According to the view of organizational ecology, any organization is the result of the environment and influenced by environmental changes. The all-round transformation of metropolis will bring pressure to the government unavoidably. If the government wants to adjust itself actively and respond positively to the social environment, it must change the traditional administrative paradigm of government. In this kind of meaning, government organization and social environment influence each other. The change of social environment will bring the change of government organization, and the change in the government organization will also actively act on the social environment to a certain extent, thus leading the social environment to change in a certain direction. So far, social transformation of contemporary China since reform and opening-up is related to the topic of metropolitan governance closely.Shanghai is the economic center and one of the metropolises which move the biggest step in the modernization process of contemporary China. The strategy of development and opening up of Pudong makes Shanghai become the pioneer area in the reform and opening up of China. Shanghai establishes the development goal of building "Four Centers" and a modernized international socialist metropolis at present. This makes Shanghai a typical metropolis which is undergoing the social transformation. The perfection degree of the socialist market economy system, development degree of market economy and civil society in Shanghai is all listed in forefront of domestic provincial areas. As far as the interaction between social transformation and metropolis governance is concerned, it is more typically embodied in Shanghai.Generally speaking, metropolitan governance means the systems, methods and processes where the government cooperatively manages public affairs, provides public products, solves public problems and promotes public interest with other organizations and individuals. As far the main connotation of public governance is concerned, it mainly means the process in which effective methods are adopted to obtain the purpose of governance by all subject including the government, enterprises, social organizations and individuals, in which the government is the key subject. The analysis frame of metropolitan governance is based on change of the governing subject, coordinating relationship in the government system and change of the governing way.The governing subject mainly refers to the organization bearing the production and provision of public products. Before and in the initial stage of contemporary Chinese social transformation, the government exists as the unique producer and supplier of public products. With the promotion of reform and opening-up in Shanghai, it may cause low governance performance that the government produces and supplies the public products singly, thus the traditional governing mode could no longer meet the requirements of Shanghai reform and development to a considerable degree. The three-dimensional structure of government organization, enterprise organization and non-government organization is not only the inevitable result of market economy and social transformation, but also the realistic embodiment of the pluralism of social subject. The development of metropolitan governance in the transitional period needs the on-going promotion of plural governance of metropolitan public affairs, thus the adjustment of governmental function, introduction and perfection of competitive system and the cultivation of non-governmental organizations will be needed.The adjustment of inter-governmental relationship is a variable in the research of metropolitan governance, and the coordinated development of inter-governmental relationship is the basic prerequisite of the maximization of metropolitan governance performance. Since the implementation of reform and opening up to the outside world, the inter-governmental relationship of Shanghai metropolis has also been undergoing a process from a state of negative separation to a state of positive coordination, while the metropolis is undergoing the process of social transformation. The coordination of the relationship between the metropolitan government and central government, the metropolitan government and other local governments in Yangtze River Delta Area as well as the internal relationship in metropolitan government has made important achievement. However, the adjustment of metropolitan inter-governmental relationship is of double character, in which there are certain deficiencies while it is made achievements. Thus the improvement of metropolitan governing performance in the transitional period needs the on-going promotion of coordinated development in metropolitan inter-government relationship.The governing manner is the approach and measure to realize the governing purpose and improve governing performance. The growth of Shanghai metropolitan governance under the background of social transformation also needs the modernization of the governing manner. As far as the relationship between informatization and public governance is concerned, the informatization is not only the external environment of governance, but also important measures that governance could rely on. The informatization of Shanghai metropolis has put forward the need of e-government construction and the informatization of governance. The process of e-government construction in Shanghai is comparatively short. However, in such a short period, Shanghai has already made substantial achievements and brought about the significant improvement of the governing performance of informatization. However, there also some deficiencies or something needed to review in the e-government construction of Shanghai because it is in short of experiences. The deficiencies in the e-government construction of Shanghai have influenced the improvement of the governing performance of informatization, and the growth of Shanghai metropolitan governance needs the e-government construction and the informatization of governance. Concretely speaking, it is important to take efforts to strengthen the infrastructure construction and practical application of e-government, the cultivation of talents related to e-government and the elimination of subject resistance.