E-participation, rural regime, and network governance: A case of Balien River conservation
Journal
Sustainability (Switzerland)
Journal Volume
10
Journal Issue
11
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Lan C.I.
Abstract
The regime theory has been widely applied to analyze the governing capacity for urban community development. However, it has seldom been translated to the countryside, even though rural communities often reveal some potential for self-governance and a capacity to act. With the emergence of information technology, social network services have become popular and have changed the social interactions between the public and private sectors. By considering the rural case of river conservation in New Taipei City, this paper used the regime theory to investigate the governing capacity of rural collaborative networks and the influence of social network services on coordination. We found that the regime theory can be used to explore rural communities with strong collaborative networks and local identities. The adoption of communication tools based on social network services strengthens informal public-private coordination wherein the power geometry of rural regimes is upgraded from 'power-to' to 'power-amidst', thus, advancing the solidarity of the community networks and prompting the rise of vital coalitions and the governing capacity of rural actors. © 2018 by the authors.
Subjects
E-participation; Network governance; Power-amidst; Regime theory; River conservation
SDGs
Other Subjects
conservation planning; governance approach; participatory approach; public-private partnership; river management; rural area; social network; World Wide Web; New Taipei; Taiwan
Type
journal article