The impacts of neighbourhood governance on residents’ sense of community: a case study of Wuhan, China

ABSTRACT This study examined the association between sense of community and neighbourhood governance. Based on residents’ evaluation of the service efficacies of the government, market and resident agencies, three types of neighbourhood governance are identified: tripartite balance governance, weak-market governance and government-dominated governance. The tripartite balance governance does not necessarily lead to a higher sense of community than the government-dominated governance, but the latter significantly promotes a higher sense of community than the weak-market governance. The diversity of agencies is not necessarily conducive to sense of community, whilst those agencies’ horizontal cooperation based on even power relations promotes sense of community.