ABSTRACT
Land expropriation-induced resettlement has tremendously transformed villagers’ life patterns, from a horizontal and self-sufficient style in spacious village houses to a vertical depending on market goods and public services in compact urban neighborhoods. Villagers’ uneasy life transformation in resettlement neighborhoods brings administrative challenges to conventional neighborhood governance institutions. The Shanghai case provides meaningful lessons on community governance to cities in China and beyond. The major paradigm shift of China’s economic reform has brought profound changes to the governance landscape of China’s local states. The more centrally a culture is positioned, the more significantly its constitutive power can be utilized to manage governance deficiencies and make social changes. Villagers are also expecting more channels to be created by neighborhood governance entities to help them mingle with their urban counterparts and build up a sense of attachment to their new settlements.
