Towards Democratic Neighborhoods

This study analyzes a new phenomenon
emerging in urban neighbourhoods in China - bottom-up
citizen engagementincluding the direct election of
community representatives, rights talk and the creation of
rules for self-direction. The study looks at how the new
values have emerged and the historical and contextual
factors that have driven their development. A multi-level
analysis was employed in combining a socio-cultural analysis
with an empirical examination, including the results of a
quantitative survey of residents of several Beijing
neighbourhoods. The new value is an unprecedented
development in Chinese culture in contrast with the
traditional top-down discourse. The empirical data also
reveal that factors such as age, levels of education, or
residence in a certain type of community structure influence
whether or not an individual is likely to engage in
bottom-up participation. People's awareness of the option of
citizen engagement is gradual and cumulative, but indigenous
resources for developing a democratic neighbourhood are
increasing, as more people become property owners and have
the opportunity to travel to other countries where citizen
engagement is more common.