This case is derived from Wuchang District of Wuhan City in Hubei Province. The direct context is that almost all compounds in the district have made requests for changing their owners’ committees. The rationale behind these requests often relates to residents’ complaints about owners’ committees in the process of managing conflicts over issues such as community services and compound self-governance. Two weaknesses of the committees stand out in particular: their weak organizing capacities and their lack of transparency in decision-making processes. To address this governance challenge, Wuchang District Party Committee and Wuchang District Government have focused on developing the competence of owners’ committees to perform their duties.

To achieve this goal, Wuchang District Party Committee and Wuchang District Government have adopted three methods. The first is to strengthen the Party’s leadership of owners’ committees. In practice, community-level party organizations have been established. They play an active role not only in publicizing Party policies at various compound activities, but also in applying these policies to realty management. The second method is to nominate qualified candidates for elections of members of owners’ committees. The third method is to improve the operation of owners’ committees. For example, protocols regarding their responsibilities have been formalized. A set of detailed implementation rules for owners’ committee has also been issued.

This case sheds light on the relationship between community-level party organizations and innovation in social governance in urban China. That is, establishing these organizations in local compounds may improve the effectiveness of community governance, particularly by developing the competence of owners’ committees to manage conflicts in local affairs.