From City Management To City Governance

In recent years, the urbanization in our country is speeding up, so the city has become the centerfor the politics、economy、culture and education in the society. With the influx of rural population, thedevelopment of city management lags behind in city society’s demand which leads to more and moreproblems, such as shortage of housing, traffic congestion, environmental pollution, the shortage ofeducational of medical supply etc. This requires that the city government should change the idea andmethod of city management, that is the transition from city management to city governance. On theother hand, the rise of civil society、the spread of democracy and fairness and the trend of diversifiedinterests of different groups provide the realistic basis for this transition.Based on the literature analysis, this research firstly clarifies the difference between managementand governance, and then gives an new definition to governance. This paper thinks that governance isthe way for the public institutions and individuals to manage the society which is a process ofconstant interaction. And its essential characteristic is that it is an joint participatation for thegovernment and the citizens in social public life and this is the best state to keep balanced in theirrelationship for both government and civil society. After clarifying the concept of governance, thisconcept has been adapted to the specific field––city. Then the paper focuses on systemic researchof city governance, including its rising background、concept analysis、governance model andevaluation of governance.These four parts sublime gradually, eventually forming acomplete understanding of city governance. In the third chapter, the paper converts its research fromtheory to practice, focusing on the analysis of domestic and international city governance experience.Taking the USA as an international example and Dalian as an domestic example, the paperdescribes their specific practices and characteristics in the process of city governance which bring anenlightenment to Nanjing. At last, by using the method of comparative analysis, the paper makes aprospect of the city government of Nanjing based on boldly drawing the successful experienceof city governance at home and abroad.