From property rights to urban institutions: an economic analysis of China's emerging urban institutions

This article presents an integrated analysis of China's emerging urban institutions, and especially of how they respond to the fundamental change in property rights regime. In the last decade, homeowners' associations have been booming in Chinese cities, while the Ministry of Civil Affairs has been promoting ‘communities’. The traditional hierarchy of district, street office and residents' committee is also undergoing some transformation. The article argues that, in spite of bureaucratic turf battles, the evolution of China's urban institutions is a good example of how the establishment of private property rights causes corresponding changes in local governance forms. The existing political structure also imposes a constraint on the development of urban communities.