Effective digital communication is a strategic imperative for government service delivery, yet the emerging information dissemination model emerging remains underexplored. Drawing on Chongqing’s digital-policing reform, this study develops an analytical framework centered on visibility-driven flexible re-hierarchization, based on interviews and observations. The analysis identifies three mechanisms: upward visibility and vertical bypass produce functional flattening without formal delayering; cross-boundary horizontal linkage dissolves departmental silos while preserving centralized coordination; and dual-mode switching shifts the information order between routine networked and mobilizational hierarchical communication. Digital technology does not flatten bureaucracy but endows it with an elastic capacity to switch between the two orders.
Multifamily housing is common in urban areas, and neighbor noise is a frequent problem. In this study, a governance-based approach was designed for managing and preventing noise problems, marking an advance from conventional noise-reduction technologies. Using qualitative methods, including interviews with residents and professionals, the proposed framework categorizes five key sectors: individual, community, society, industry, and public. It highlights sector interactions, identifies key actors, and suggests sector-specific activities for resolution. Rather than offering a fixed solution, the proposed governance model is adaptable to various contexts, promoting sustainable and context-sensitive approaches to noise management.
Citizens play a crucial role in public-private partnerships (PPPs). Yet, such citizens often are poorly engaged and excluded from decision-making, leading to situations where their interests do not align with the public and private partners. Recognizing the importance of private sector behaviors in PPPs, we aim to identify how their behaviors play a role in aligning these interests to meet citizen expectations. We use the Economies of Worth framework and a comparative case study to identify behavioral mechanisms to support alignment, such as being available to citizens in person, adaptability, engaging in small goodwill gestures, and sustaining these behaviors over time.
This study examines the contracting behavior of U.S. transit agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic to assess two competing predictions: (1) New Public Management expects increased contracting to achieve cost savings and shift risk, and (2) institutional inertia predicts stability due to structural barriers. Our findings demonstrate overwhelming support for institutional inertia. Despite confirming the pandemic was a major disruption, contracting behavior and perceptions remained stable. The mechanism for this inertia is that contracting is not associated with improved operational outcomes, suggesting the absence of economic incentives for change. The stability observed reflects externally insulated resilience of core public management structures.
Placemaking is widely promoted as a tool for belonging and urban transformation, yet its affective dimensions remain undertheorized. This article develops a framework for placemaking as an affective practice, arguing that sense of place is best understood through the relational dynamics of affect. Drawing on Lefebvre’s spatial triad, I show how governance often privileges conceived space while overlooking lived dimensions. Distinguishing affect from emotion, I demonstrate how embodied and social interactions generate atmospheres that shape how places are governed. Building on assemblage thinking, I conceptualize placemaking as a distributed process where affect binds material, social, and institutional forces.
