The project will provide a comparative study of indigenous community planning and governance in the periurban Regions of China, Canada and Australia. Based on in-depth case studies, the core of this project will examine in what ways urbanization has reshaped the landscapes of rural property rights reforms, social welfare provision and community participation. Seeking a comparative perspective to understanding these issues, our study has both practical and theoretical implications. On the practical front, the findings of this study will identify the lessons and the best practice for mutual learning, through their new insights on under what specific circumstances local communities have achieved their specific outcome in planning and government. Such findings will also inform community capacity building as well as policy reforms towards better protecting the interests of villagers who are struggled for urban transition. On the academic front, the insights of this project about the regional diversity of community planning and governance will refine our current understanding of the actual effects of urbanization decentralization on state-society relationship in different institutional and cultural contexts. This will eventually lead to the advancement of the existing community planning and governance theories which have been primarily drawn from western experiences.​

该项目将中国、加拿大和澳大利亚城乡地区的本土社区规划和治理进行比较研究。基于详细的案例调研，该项目探讨城市化如何重塑农村产权改革、社会福利改革以及社区参与格局。我们从比较视角理解这些问题，具有重要的实践和理论意义。在实践层面，该项目将通过研究不同情境下地方社区规划与治理的案例，形成新的认识，并促进相互学习。相关研究成果将为社区能力建设和政策改革提供参考，从而更好地保护在城市转型过程中面临困境的村民利益。在学术层面，该项目关于社区规划和治理区域多样性的研究，将有助于完善我们对不同制度和文化背景下城市化分权及国家—社会关系的理解。最终，通过借鉴西方经验，该项目将推动国内现有社区规划和治理理论的发展与完善。

Acknowledgment 致谢：
Research findings of this study come from a research grant from The Hong Kong Research Grants Council 本研究获得香港研究资助局资助​ https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/index.html