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Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

author:International Urban Planning
Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

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【Abstract】How to give full play to the synergistic role of "government-market-society" in the supply of urban grassroots public service facilities through policy regulation and control is the core issue of grassroots co-construction and co-governance, which has been widely concerned for a long time. Over the past 100 years since the opening of the port, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has continuously reformed the mode of providing public services at the grassroots level, forming an efficient, sophisticated and distinctive multi-subject co-governance mechanism. Based on literature review and field research, this paper reviews the historical evolution of the supply mode of public goods such as environmental sanitation, recreation and sports, elderly care and medical care in Hong Kong, summarizes the main characteristics and strategies of the current supply model, and analyzes the specific measures such as "region-oriented" administration and planning orientation, multi-channel sinking of financial assistance, "space-society" hierarchical collaborative governance, multi-agent supply of social welfare, and "full cycle of recuperation"-oriented regional medical network. By examining the advantages and disadvantages of the governance body, spatial allocation, and institutional guarantee under the Hong Kong model, this paper puts forward policy implications for the supply of grassroots public service facilities in large cities in the mainland, including the establishment of a robust special financial guarantee and an efficient demand feedback mechanism, clarifying the boundaries of social participation in service supply and optimizing the resource allocation mechanism, coordinating spatial and demand grading, taking into account spatial intensification and management refinement, and strengthening the guidance and constraints of relevant laws and regulations.

introduction

The supply mode of grassroots public goods is closely related to the local economic development level, social welfare policy and regional cultural characteristics, which is one of the core issues of urban governance, which affects the livability and sustainability of cities. According to statistics, from 1960 to 2017, government public social welfare spending in most developed regions of the world increased faster than economic growth. In the context of rapid urbanization, major cities in mainland China have long focused on the construction of medium- and large-scale public service facilities at the urban level, while insufficient attention has been paid to community-level grassroots public service facilities. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the mainland's urban renewal and renovation of old residential areas listed the improvement of quality and efficiency of public service supply in the community life circle as the core goal, and the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening the Modernization of the Grassroots Governance System and Governance Capacity" also clearly pointed out that it is necessary to compile a plan for the construction of urban and rural community service systems, incorporate the construction of comprehensive service facilities into the territorial spatial planning system, and actively guide market players to enter the field of community services.

In the post-industrialisation, land scarcity and ageing population of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the provision of grassroots public service products is an important part of local social welfare expenditure. According to statistics, Hong Kong's public social welfare expenditure (including total expenditure on social welfare and medical services) as a proportion of GDP has increased from 3.6% in 1997-1998 to 5.9% in 2018-2019. At present, Hong Kong has established a relatively mature pluralistic co-governance system [pluralistic co-governance" social governance model generally refers to the cooperation and mutual coordination of different subjects represented by the public sector, the third sector, private institutions, professionals, etc., under the leadership of the government, so as to enhance the common interests of the majority of the public in the region, form a benign interaction, and reflect the governance concept of open public management and extensive public participation] Its public services are considered to be a model of high-density and compact urban governance, which has important reference significance for mainland cities to promote the modernization of grassroots governance and examine the roles and boundaries of government, market and society in supply.

Previous studies on public service facilities in Hong Kong have mostly explored the planning and design characteristics of a single type of facilities, such as leisure facilities, wet markets, elderly service facilities, and infant and child service facilities, from the perspective of resource allocation and planning and design. At present, there is a lack of research on the systematic review and examination of the provision of various public service facilities in Hong Kong's grassroots living circles from the perspective of local governance mechanisms.

The core configuration elements of the community life circle should include basic public service facilities such as commercial services, medical and health care, culture and sports, social welfare, and education and medical facilities, which are also significant factors affecting the satisfaction of residents' communities. Among them, the problem of the supply of sanitation, cultural and sports, social welfare, and medical and health facilities at the grassroots level on the mainland is more prominent. Therefore, this paper summarizes and examines the experience of Hong Kong's supply mode by focusing on the evolution process, current elements and model characteristics of the above three types of facilities in Hong Kong, in order to provide a path reference and policy enlightenment for high-density cities in the mainland that are in a period of development and transition. 1 Review of Hong Kong's policy on the provision of grassroots public service facilities

Social welfare policy is an important factor influencing the mode of community facility provision. Since the 1980s, the British government in Hong Kong has implemented an active non-intervention policy, that is, the government only plays the role of regulating and promoting the market, implementing "maximum support, minimum intervention". This policy was gradually improved into a "small government, big market" policy after the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR government in 1997. Since then, the government's welfare responsibilities have mainly been to provide remedial social assistance safety nets, increase financial resources for social services, and begin to focus on guiding and nurturing market players to participate in the provision of public goods, and non-governmental organizations, social enterprises and statutory bodies have begun to play an active role in the provision of public goods. In the course of the policy evolution of government-market cooperation, there has been a significant shift in the supply pattern of facilities such as sanitation, recreation and sports, welfare and medical care (Figure 1).

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

Fig. 1 Evolution of Hong Kong's economic welfare policies and the providers of various public service facilities

1.1 Decentralization and decentralization of the supply, management and operation of environmental sanitation and recreational and cultural facilities

From 1883 to 1986, the Hong Kong Cleansing Bureau, the Urban Council, and the Regional Council Council were established one after another to exercise the management functions of environmental sanitation and recreation, sports and cultural affairs. Subsequently, in 1999, the Hong Kong Government restructured the Municipal Services Management System and established the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) with separate functions. In addition, since 1982, the Hong Kong Government has appointed District Officers as the most senior official representatives in each of the 18 districts to preside over the work of the District Management Committees to meet the needs of district development and promote the implementation of district plans. Since 2006, the role, functions and funding of District Councils in the provision of community facilities have been strengthened to participate in the management of some community facilities such as community halls, libraries, open spaces, sports venues, public swimming pools and beaches. At present, Hong Kong implements a "one-tier-of-government, two-tier management" system in the management of public service facilities, including the direct management of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the coordinated management of district commissioners, district management committees and district councils.

In Hong Kong's current planning system, the provision of sanitation and recreation facilities adopts a combination of top-down and bottom-up models, aiming to play the role of statutory planning in the overall situation from the top down, while reshaping the character of the community through bottom-up and non-statutory community planning, and respecting the wishes of the community residents. Therefore, the types of planning include top-down territory-wide planning implemented by the HKSAR Government, such as environmental hygiene facilities planning and recreational, sports and cultural facilities planning under the responsibility of the FEHD and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department respectively, as well as district-based bottom-up community planning at the district level. The revitalisation of the "Blue House in Wan Chai" is a typical example of the latter, which is a bottom-up practice of open space and preservation of historic buildings for cultural, community and commercial use.

In addition, in order to improve the land utilization rate and the convenience and accessibility of municipal recreation and sports facilities, the Hong Kong government has built a municipal building for a long time [the municipal building (also known as the market) is a comprehensive municipal building in Hong Kong that is centrally equipped with food trading, recreation, sports and culture, administrative offices and other purposes] and is centrally equipped with various types of municipal service facilities. The internal facilities of municipal service buildings are usually operated and managed by the FEHD and the LCSD respectively, with the FEHD responsible for the tender management of most of the stalls (Table 1). However, the separate management and operation under the centralized configuration presets the difficulty of cross-departmental collaboration—the stall environment in the building is more complex, the operating environment such as air conditioning, drainage, ventilation, and lighting is not good, and the hygiene and safety situation is easy to cause negative perceptions of users of other facilities in the building, such as public libraries and gymnasiums. As a result, the vacancy rate of municipal services buildings in Hong Kong is currently maintained at around 13%, and the high vacancy rate has further exacerbated the government's investment losses and made it difficult to break even.

Table 1 Number of markets and stalls/shops managed by different operating entities in the HKSAR (Unit: unit)

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

On the whole, Hong Kong's decentralization and decentralization of the supply and operation of sanitation and recreation facilities are not sufficient to resolve the complex contradictions brought about by multi-agent governance at the grassroots level. First of all, due to the detailed division of the bottom-up community planning promoted by the District Council, it is easy to exacerbate the "nimby effect", which makes it difficult to implement some disgusting and sensitive facilities (such as garbage treatment plants and mental rehabilitation centers). Secondly, not all District Council members have professional knowledge and competence backgrounds, and the decisions on community planning are often too radical to implement, making it difficult to use collective wisdom to solve complex and multidimensional community problems. In addition, some Hong Kong community organization officers suggested in interviews that when absorbing the opinions of the District Councils and owners' corporations on facility planning, they should distinguish the scale of facilities: in the case of medium-sized and large-scale facilities, they should focus on protecting the public interest and strengthen the leading role of the District Management Committee in demonstration and implementation, and in the case of small neighbourhood facilities with limited externalities, they should focus on the joint decision-making of stakeholders such as the District Council and the owners' corporation. 1.2 Intra-district grading and financial assistance for social welfare services

Hong Kong's social welfare services cover a wide range of areas, such as elderly care, family and child welfare, rehabilitation, correction of offenders and clinical psychology.

Community service facilities for the elderly in Hong Kong are mainly provided by the Social Welfare Department under the Labour and Welfare Bureau of the Government. Since 2001, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been sorting out various types of elderly care facilities with overlapping functions, and promoting the transformation of Integrated Elderly Service Centres into District Elderly Centres and elderly activity centres into neighbourhood elderly centres. Among them, District Elderly Community Centres (LLCs) provide district-level support services and act as co-ordinators of elderly services, while Neighbourhood Elderly Centres focus on the community level to provide community support services to the elderly while meeting the service needs of District Elderly Community Centres. Day Care Centres for the Elderly and Domestic Helper Teams accept cases referred by District Elderly Community Centres (DECCs) and Neighbourhood Elderly Centres (CHECs) to support home ageing for the elderly.

In terms of the operation of elderly care facilities, the Hong Kong government has actively introduced social entities, optimized funding and supervision methods, and enriched the forms of cooperation between government and society. The Social Welfare Department usually selects and purchases suitable non-residential property space based on the needs of the population, and then brings in NGOs to operate the relevant social welfare facilities by way of invitations to submit proposals or competitive bidding.

In terms of financial assistance, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) reimbursed the cost of services provided by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating its facilities until 2001, but the system was later deemed to be inflexible and cumbersome. Therefore, since 2001, the Social Welfare Department has implemented the "Lump Sum Grant Subvention System", which no longer strictly controls the staffing and remuneration structure of NGOs, nor does it strictly approve individual sub-projects, but disburses funding to subvented organisations in a lump sum. This initiative gives NGOs greater autonomy to flexibly mobilize resources and integrate services, helping them adapt and meet changing needs more quickly. At the same time, in order to monitor the efficiency of the use of subsidy by operating institutions, the Social Welfare Department has established a clear set of "Service Quality Standards" and "Allowance and Service Agreement" to evaluate the service performance of social welfare facilities operated by institutions based on quantitative service volume indicators and service effectiveness indicators.

In addition to providing subsidies to social entities such as non-governmental organisations, the government not only provides subsidies to the elderly who meet the requirements, but also gives the recipients more room for their own choice. In order to increase the enthusiasm of the elderly to use community care service facilities, the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly launched by the Government in September 2013 adheres to the principle of "money follows people", so that successful applicants can independently and flexibly choose the type and combination of elderly care services they need, without having to passively wait for government allocation. The program has broadened the demand space and activated the enthusiasm of participating supply institutions, increasing the number of participating institutions from 62 in 2013 to 227 in 2020. 1.3 District Medical Networking System and Public-Private Partnership Dual-track Parallel SystemOn 1 December 1990, the Hong Kong Government abolished the Hospital Affairs Department in the former government departments and established the Hospital Authority (hereinafter referred to as the Hospital Authority) as a statutory body between the Government and public hospitals [Statutory bodies are quasi-governmental bodies established and operated by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to be responsible for specific public services or work that the Government considers require more participation from the community, but are not government departments] to manage all public hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong. Separation of management and management". According to their geographical location, the HA has grouped hospitals and clinics into seven different clusters (Table 2), which cover different levels and types of hospitals, providing district-based public healthcare services to the Hong Kong public. The purpose of the network is to ensure that patients in the same area have access to high-quality and full-cycle continuous treatment, covering the process of medical treatment, convalescence, rehabilitation and post-discharge care. Taking the Kowloon Central Cluster as an example, Mount Elizabeth Hospital is a large acute general hospital that provides 24-hour comprehensive medical services. The Hong Kong Eye Hospital and the Hong Kong Children's Hospital provide services as an emergency and specialist hospital, Wong Tai Sin Hospital is a continuum of care hospital providing post-discharge rehabilitation care, the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service is a territory-wide blood supply centre, the Buddhist Hospital is a community hospital with general and extended care services, and there are 13 general outpatient clinics in the cluster providing primary care and general practice services. Table 2 Number of hospitals and general outpatient clinics in the HKSAR Healthcare Cluster (unit: units)

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

Hong Kong's hospital cluster system has reduced the vertical system of public healthcare management, delegated more authority to hospitals, and improved the efficiency of hospital management decision-making. Within the network, the linkage and cooperation of hospitals are emphasized, and the overlapping of medical services and the waste of resources are reduced through the cooperation and support of hospitals with different positioning. However, there is still an imbalance in medical resources among regional networks, such as the average waiting time of ENT and ophthalmology departments is significantly different among the networks, and there is still a gap between the goals of "balancing medical resources and reducing cross-regional medical treatment". In addition, the network system is more likely to derive "mountain doctrine" in the process of implementation. Under normal circumstances, the HA allocates healthcare resources based on the amount of services provided by hospitals in the cluster, and tends to give priority to hospitals with high reception pressure and long waiting times.

In addition, Hong Kong adheres to the dual track of public and private healthcare, with the public healthcare providing a safety net for the public, and private hospitals and clinics providing quality non-inpatient healthcare services through a fully market-oriented approach, providing more choices for those who can afford them, and is also subject to the unified supervision of the Department of Health. However, with the acceleration of the ageing population and the shortage of medical manpower, Hong Kong's dual-track healthcare system currently suffers from an imbalance between the public sector and the private sector. First, for a long time, the Hong Kong people have become "welfare-dependent" on the SAR government's highly subsidized public medical services, and generally oppose a series of medical system reform plans involving mandatory contributions; 2 Characteristics of Hong Kong's primary public service supply systemThe evolution of Hong Kong's public service policy has had a profound impact on the supply of grassroots public service facilities. The author will summarize and compare the current status of sanitation, recreation, welfare, and medical facilities in Hong Kong in terms of facility content, management and operation entities, financial sources, and spatial allocation (Table 3), and describe the characteristics and interrelationships of facility supply at the territory-wide and regional levels (Figure 2). Based on the above induction and comparison, the author summarizes the characteristics of the provision of grassroots public service facilities in Hong Kong into the following three aspects. Table 3 Characteristics of sanitation, recreation, welfare, and medical facilities in Hong Kong

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]
Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

Fig. 2 The framework of Hong Kong's public service facilities supply system

2.1 "Region-based, region-led" administrative and planning orientation

The supply characteristics of grassroots service facilities in Hong Kong are closely related to its "region-based, region-led" local governance philosophy. Under the "one level of government, two levels of management" system, the HKSAR Government guides and co-ordinates public service affairs at the district level through the implementation of the District Administration Plan in 18 districts. The plan establishes "district management committees" in each district and gives them decision-making powers to coordinate government services at the district level, ensure timely responses to regional needs and problems, and promote public participation. The District Management Committee is chaired by the District Officer and comprises the responsible representatives of the heads of government bureaux in the district, covering areas such as housing, transportation, health, etc. At the same time, District Councils play an important advisory and implementation role in district affairs, advising the Government on the use of public facilities in the district, the use of financial allocation, and the prioritization of project implementation. In addition, owners' corporations (owners' corporations) (representatives of owners' bodies corporate) and community organisations such as Area Committees also participate in district governance when the interests of individual communities are involved.

In terms of regional governance, Hong Kong has established a mechanism for multi-subject co-governance consultation, and organized the participation of stakeholders such as government commissioners, district councillors, and residents' representatives to jointly solve cross-departmental local livelihood problems. Since 2016, Hong Kong has fully implemented the "District-led Action Plan" in 18 districts, setting aside 80 million yuan of regular funds each year to promote 42 projects, implementing the concept of "solving regional problems and grasping regional opportunities".

In response to the bottom-up collection of residents' needs, the District Councils play a major role in providing consultation and feedback to the community. District Council members are usually elected by the local residents, who are more knowledgeable and responsible about the local situation, and the advice they provide is more reflective of the actual needs of the district. The Government collects local public opinion by briefing the District Councils on the planning of community facilities and listening to the relevant feedback from District Council members, and makes relevant adjustments to the planning of community facilities.

However, District Councils sometimes find it difficult to take into account the interests of the district and even the whole of Hong Kong due to over-emphasizing the priority of the district, which hinders the planning and implementation of important nimby-type facilities. For example, the results of the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission's pre-construction consultation on 19 mental health community integrated centres showed that nearly half of them were opposed by district councillors and residents. It can be seen that when the community priority policy is not properly applied, the intensified nimby effect will hinder the implementation of the plan in shaping consensus and procedural advancement. In this regard, the Government will make use of the functional limitations of the District Councils and their reliance on financial allocation, etc., to carry out mediation in the interests of the whole territory, so as to check and balance to a certain extent the misplanning caused by the entanglement of local interests. 2.2 Prudent financial allocations and diversified forms of government-social cooperation

The Hong Kong Government is committed to providing long-term and prudent financial funding to District Councils, and relevant community projects are initiated, planned and promoted by District Councils that are closer to the people's will, so as to make full use of local opportunities and meet local needs, thereby contributing to the long-term development of the district. Therefore, the Hong Kong Government will set aside sufficient funding for district affairs in its annual budget to support them in taking forward key community projects, carrying out relevant recreational, sports and cultural activities, and managing some community facilities. For example, from 2019 to 2020, the Hong Kong government allocated more than HK$300 million to various district councils to implement projects such as the Moreton Terrace Activity Centre in Wan Chai District and the Shek Kip Mei Community Service Centre in Sham Shui Po District.

In addition to direct financial support, the Government is also actively promoting the diversification of service providers. In 1989, the British government introduced public sector reforms, which clearly defined the government's role at the helm of public administration, taking it away from the tedious day-to-day "paddling" work and focusing on the overall policy direction. Based on this, the Hong Kong government has set up more than 300 statutory bodies to assist the government in regulating these areas. Among them, the statutory bodies responsible for public services include the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Elderly Commission, the Education Commission and the Hospital Authority. Such statutory bodies are not part of government departments, and they maintain a high degree of financial and personnel independence, and have a certain degree of autonomy in their functions, and play a central role in supply. In this context, the mode of government-social cooperation governance has gradually evolved into three ways: privatization of public services and institutions, government procurement of services and public-private partnerships.

In addition, it has become common for non-governmental organizations, social institutions and private institutions to participate in the operation of community education, medical care, elderly care, cultural and sports and public spaces. The general process is that the developer designs and constructs the service facilities in accordance with the specifications of the Social Welfare Department in the terms of the land sale (similar to the planning and design conditions in the Mainland system), and the cost of the works involved is paid by the lottery fund (mainly from Mark Six, investment income and the auction of vehicle registration numbers), and upon completion of the construction works, the Social Welfare Department will take over the facilities and select suitable service operators through competitive bidding. For example, in 2019, the successful bidder of Site 2 of Kai Tak Area 4A was required to construct designated welfare facilities for the provision of nursing homes and day care centres for the elderly, etc.

Although outsourcing a large number of operation services of some community facilities can give full play to the expertise of market professionals, it also poses challenges to the subsequent government supervision and assessment. (1) There are drawbacks in assessing the operational performance of relevant institutions only in the form of quantitative indicators, which makes it easy for institutions to only pay attention to quantity and not quality when providing services. (2) It is difficult to effectively supervise service ethics through a purely quantitative assessment mechanism, and it relies more on the organization's consciousness and internal supervision. In addition, improper supervision and evaluation will also lead to tension and deprofessionalization between internal management and grassroots employees, which will affect the supply performance of professional services. 2.3 "Spatial and social" hierarchical linkage and intensive collocation under the rule of law

Thanks to the sound supporting laws and clear provisions, Hong Kong has established a modern system of planning laws and regulations, including the Town Planning Ordinance and special laws and regulations. The Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, which were proposed in the 1980s and are still in use today, provide basic guidelines and bottom-line controls, while giving regulators and developers greater flexibility to implement them. The "Planning Guidelines" in the guidelines suggest that the standard setting of community facilities should be based on the population growth and agglomeration of a specific area, pay attention to population density control, and guide the construction of urban areas with large populations or new districts where large numbers of people are about to move in. The Planning Department and the LCSD will also take into account the regional situation, development constraints and available resources when applying the standards, etc., and make flexible arrangements to meet the different needs of the population in the old and new districts. In an interview with the author, Mr Cheung Wan-ching, Principal Leisure Management Manager of the LCSD, said that when considering the allocation standards of public space facilities, the LCSD distinguishes between old and new areas, and takes into account the problems of disrepair and congestion of facilities in old areas.

With the support of a sound system of laws and regulations, the Hong Kong government has implemented a hierarchical allocation of service facilities in the 18 districts, adhering to the hierarchical principle of coordination between social governance and spatial planning. For example, the Hong Kong government divides public open spaces into district, district and neighborhood levels according to the size of the population and the characteristics of facility needs, and distinguishes the types of facilities in various levels of space according to the characteristics of "moving" and "static" use, so as to provide clear construction guidelines. In addition, medical and wellness facilities are provided in a networked system to ensure that patients receive a coherent full cycle of care throughout the course of their illness. Community elderly care facilities are divided into four levels: District Elderly Centres, Neighbourhood Centres, Day Care Centres and Activity Centres, each of which corresponds not only to spatial grading, but also to the care needs and management mechanisms of the elderly who are physically and mentally different.

At the same time, the Hong Kong government insists on reserving land and centralizing the provision of diversified services in the form of mixed functions. The public market concentrates facilities such as community-level wet markets, daily necessities supermarkets, sports grounds, libraries and food stalls and restaurants in the transportation hub, which not only facilitates local residents to purchase daily goods, but also provides job opportunities for small traders, and at the same time saves the scarce land resources in the city center, which is conducive to centralized and efficient management. In addition, the Government will also offer public tenders for bidding on vacant storefronts and stalls in markets at low prices, or flexibly convert them into community facilities. 3 Implications for the provision of public service facilities in mainland Chinese cities

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the mainland government attaches great importance to the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity, among which "precise and efficient grassroots public services" and "active coordination of various organizations" have been written into the top-level guiding principles and included in the main work goals for the next five years. Hong Kong has long adhered to the pluralistic governance model of "government guidance, government-community cooperation, and market participation", adhered to the "people-first, region-oriented" orientation, met diversified needs, endowed supply and demand entities with higher autonomy, and won international recognition for the quality of public service supply, which has important reference significance for mainland cities.

There are some similarities between mainland cities and Hong Kong in terms of the provision mechanism of grassroots public services, such as the district level as the core spatial supply unit, and government finance plays a leading role, but there are also some differences, including the depth of public-private partnership, the degree of autonomy, the deliberative mechanism, and the structure of the main supply body (Table 4). Therefore, when learning from Hong Kong's experience, mainland cities should make trade-offs based on their own conditions and development process, and gradually improve the urban grassroots service supply system. Overall, Hong Kong's implications for the provision of grassroots public services in the Mainland can be summarised in five points. Table 4 Comparison of grassroots service provision systems between Hong Kong and Mainland cities

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

First, sound city-specific financial guarantees and an efficient response to community needs are fundamental to the provision of effective and sustainable public services. The Government's annual public budget should set aside regular earmarked funds for the implementation of "district-based" projects, such as the allocation of community facilities and participatory renewal. Horizontally, the supply system should strengthen the district government level as the central level of grassroots governance, and establish a more effective "flat" cross-departmental joint and feedback coordination mechanism, and regularly study and promote related matters. Vertically, community affairs (such as electricity, gas, etc.) that need to be reported to municipal units for coordination in the past should be delegated to the district government for coordination, streamlining the administrative approval procedures, and speeding up the processing of matters;

Second, based on the economic attributes and market demand of facilities, deepen the reform of "public and private" and the exploration of "public construction and private management". It is necessary to clarify the types and boundaries of community public facilities in which social organizations or market entities participate in the supply, and establish diversified supply and demand funding and incentive mechanisms. First of all, it is necessary to increase the discretion of the operating entity on the use of financial subsidies, and encourage the use of a lump sum grant and lump sum evaluation rather than a subsidy management model of prior approval, so as to attract more institutions to participate in the provision of pension services. Second, the government can consider issuing "public service vouchers" to achieve "money follows people", that is, expanding users' independent choice of service content and institutions, and providing service subsidies and subsidies according to users' needs. Finally, it is advisable to develop an evaluation system that mixes quantitative and qualitative indicators to monitor relevant operational performance and evaluate funding outcomes.

Third, a more systematic, clear and implementation-oriented facility grading system should be established to support the all-round equalization of public service supply, including the equalization of resource supply, service transformation process and service output effect. The grading of facility supply should not only be reflected in the scale of space, but also in the service elements, so as to achieve the accurate matching of physical space and social demand. The configuration of facilities should be based on the characteristics of facility needs, such as the sequence and cycle of medical treatment, the scale and dynamic and static function needs of parks, and the difference between day and night care of elderly service facilities, etc., and consider the coordination with higher or lower level facilities, and establish a matching management mechanism. In addition, functional departments should also focus on the design of sensitive facilities. Taking public toilets as an example, façade beautification, intelligent management, standardized evaluation and assessment can be used to change the negative impression of the public and improve the service quality of the facilities.

Fourth, the old urban area with tight land resources should select plots with convenient transportation and adjacent residential areas, and intensively allocate comprehensive community service buildings through new construction or reconstruction. The interior of the building can be configured with lifestyle shopping, cultural sports and executive office spaces according to needs. At the same time, the management should ensure the environmental quality of the corresponding floors for long-term sustainable operation. In terms of the physical environment, special attention should be paid to the quality control of safety and health to reduce the risk of disease transmission, and in the institutional environment, it is necessary to regularly evaluate the management and operation status to control the rapid increase in rents in the later stage, avoid high vacancy rate of shops, and ensure the sustainable operation of the building.

Fifth, it is necessary to strengthen the guiding and restraining role of laws and regulations in collaborative governance, improve and refine the laws and regulations in community governance, and provide a "full cycle" legal basis for the planning, construction and operation of facilities. Legislation can be used to define the legal boundaries between government management and community autonomy in the community life circle, and attempts can be made to incorporate grassroots consultation into relevant statutory decision-making procedures. At the same time, legislation should pay attention to the legal status of non-governmental and social organizations in the governance system, so that they can participate in supply in an orderly manner in accordance with the law. Finally, the improvement of the relevant laws and regulations should not be limited to the optimization of the "Urban and Rural Planning Law", "Civil Code" and other legal details, but should also increase the refinement of specific laws and regulations, so that grassroots governance has laws to follow. UPI Authors: Qi Zhang, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Wuhan Research Center for Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning, and Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. [email protected]

Wang Siqiang, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Construction and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. [email protected]

Zheng Zhenhua is the director of Wuhan Research Center for Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning. [email protected]

Huang Jianzhong (corresponding author) is a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. [email protected]

Typography | Xu Dudu

Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

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Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]
Journal Highlights | The Evolution, Characteristics and Enlightenment of the Supply Mechanism of Grassroots Public Service Facilities in Hong Kong [2024.2 Priority]

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