In urban China, a large number of old residential communities have neither owners’ committee nor realty management. These communities, therefore, are facing many governance challenges, particularly those relative to public hygiene, public security, and public facilities. In the report delivered by President Xi Jinping at the 19thNational Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, it proposed building a community governance system in and through which “government’s governance efforts on the one hand and society’s self-regulation and residents’ self-governance on the other reinforce each other”. Informed by this policy proposal, many cities are attempting to develop their community governance modes that fit their contexts. This case presents the mode as developed by Xixijiedao of Xihu District of Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province. It is called “Jiayuanziguanxiaozu” meaning “community self-governance team”.

The team consists of five to seven members from three community groups, namely property owners, permanent residents, and local authority. The neighborhood committee has delegated the team to carry out tasks related to community self-governance. With regard to operating expenses, the team has received permission from local authority to charge residents self-governance fees. As an added incentive, local authority provides allowance to the team in proportion to the fees it collects from residents. Local authority has also secured the team’s legal status by registering it as a social organization. Not only was the registration process simplified, but also was the registration fee lowered from 30,000 RMB to 3,000 RMB. Further, local authority ran a public relations campaign under the theme of “Wodejiayuangongtongti” – meaning “our community, our common home”, encouraging residents to join the community self-governance team so that a sustainable self-governance mechanism can be developed in the long term.

The community self-governance team has become a means through which the residents develop and maintain a sense of ownership of their neighborhoods and local affairs. Leveraging local residents’ strengths enables and motivates them to participate in community governance, which in turn can improve their livelihoods. This positive reciprocity between self-governance and livelihoods can help to address the fundamental challenge in the process of transforming old residential communities, that is, how to develop effective community governance. As shown in this case, the key lies in developing a mode that fits local contexts, leverages local residents’ strengths, and maximizes their participation in the governance of their neighborhoods.