Building an Academic Community for Rural-Urban Public Governance

The urban-rural relationship represents a fundamental contradiction in China's modernization process. The establishment of Urban-Rural Public Governance as a secondary discipline within Public Management fully demonstrates the initiative and adaptability of the discipline of Public Management in response to the national strategic transformation. Compared to other secondary disciplines, Urban-Rural Public Governance possesses unique research domains and paradigms, along with multiple characteristics, such as public interest, interdisciplinary integration, and practical applicability. It has been evolving progressively into an independent and mature discipline. Focusing on issues such as urban public governance, rural public governance, and integrated urban-rural development and governance, academic research has expanded substantially from the dimensions of governance arenas, governance technologies, and governance systems. Studies in urban-rural public governance have undergone three stages: the formative period (1998—2002), the exploration period (2003—2012), and the development period (2013—present), yielding a series of localized iconic concepts. Confronted with the dual demands of disciplinary construction and academic innovation, there is an urgent need to build a higher-level urban-rural public governance academic community. Efforts should focus on paradigm innovation and system construction, local refinement and theoretical application of academic knowledge, and interactive exchange and inclusive coexistence of academic platforms. The ultimate aim is to form a disciplinary system, academic system, and discourse system for urban-rural public governance with Chinese characteristics.