Traditional command-and-control, state-centred, and top-down approaches to water governance pose significant challenges to water sustainability in urbanising China. As regional institutions and local governments share overlapping jurisdictions and authority, China’s fragmented administration causes an ‘institutional collective action dilemma’ in which the management of water resources is ineffective and inefficient. Meanwhile, stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors with conflicting interests are poorly coordinated in water governance, which is usually seen as a ‘social dilemma’. The interweaving of China’s water predicament and urbanisation may exacerbate each other. Collaborative Water Governance (CWG) has emerged as a promising framework that embraces stronger consensus and stakeholder collaboration for adaptive solutions to tackle water challenges. However, conceptual work and empirical findings on collaborative governance in emerging economies remain ambiguous. Few studies have situated CWG at the intersection of environmental, social and economic transitions in China.
This research explores whether and to what degree CWG exists in China. The research examines whether CWG can produce better environmental solutions and address existing poor coordination in water governance. As the first attempt to systematically analyse how China’s particular socio-political context is shaping the possibilities, dynamics, and performance of CWG at a basin scale, this research aims to both draw a theoretical and empirical picture of CWG at Baiyangdian Lake basin during the construction of Xiong’an New Area as well as provide practical insights on public participation for the sustainable water governance of China. Methodologically, a qualitative case study approach is adopted to understand collaborative water behaviour of key actors in a specific area. This research uses four different types of methods for data collection (literature and document review, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participatory observation). Institutional arrangements and organisational architecture of water governance in the Baiyangdian basin are analysed through thematic analysis of a substantial number of policies.