Chengzhong He

Chengzhong He

April 29, 2025

Community engagement, Local governance, Participatory governance, Governance effectiveness, Digital technology.

This study systematically examines the implementation pathways and impact mechanisms of community engagement in local governance, aiming to address systemic issues like policy disconnection and uneven resource allocation inherent in conventional governance models. Employing a “practice-effectiveness-innovation” analytical framework, the research integrates domestic cases such as Beijing's “Hutong Steward” initiative and Hangzhou's Future Community project with international practices like Germany’s citizen consultation forums and Singapore’s digital democracy experiments. These cross-contextual analyses reveal the operational logic and functional efficacy of community participation across diverse governance scenarios. Findings demonstrate that empowering stakeholders, leveraging technological innovation, and restructuring institutional frameworks can enhance governance precision and policy legitimacy. However, persistent challenges such as technological exclusion, cost-benefit disparities, and democratic ethics concerns require targeted solutions. The study proposes adaptive strategies emphasizing precision alignment, inclusive empowerment, and sustainable safeguards, advocating for a dynamic equilibrium between technological tools and human-centered values to advance the modernization of grassroots governance.

© 2025, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license