Spaces & Flows: Ninth International Conference on Urban and ExtraUrban Studies

Abstract

Due to the short period of development in Urban Planning Policies and Regulations, there are many contradictions and shortcomings in China’s urban planning system especially between multiple plans and the various planning departments. As such, Chinese scholars in 2001 proposed to integrate multiple planning together with the “Multiple-Plan Coordination” approach. (Multiple-Plan Coordination generally refers the coordination between the four major urban development plans in China, but, for different cities the definition of Multiple-Plan Coordination may differ). The differences between the various footholds of the planning, the contradictions between the departments in charge, and the dissimilar planning period have cause many troubles in Multiple-Plan Coordination work. At present, most of the studies on Multiple-Plan Coordination in China focus on technical aspects, legal aspects, and so on. There are few issues concerning the coordination or cross-departmental governance of the various departments, in the process. In Xiamen, Multiple-Plan Coordination has made good progress in recent years. More planning departments are achieving a higher level of information sharing and coordination. This study reviews Xiamen as an example to study the game between departments in the process of the implementation of Multiple-Plan Coordination. Through the relevant theoretical framework of cross-sector collaboration (Bryson 2006), we discuss the process of cross-sector collaboration, boundary organization, and other related concepts in this research . This is of great significance to solve interdepartmental coordination issues.