In the
People's Republic of China, a
community (), also called
residential unit or
residential quarter () or
neighbourhood () or
residential community (), is an urban
residential area and its residents administrated by a
subdistrict (). Communities are generally organized around a territory consisting of 100 to 700 households.
History The reform that created residential communities as local government in their current form was called
shèqū (社区). Originally, these organizations consisted of participating citizens and chiefs, the latter ones being installed by the central governance. Shequ represented an attempt to restructure the relationship between state and urban community in China. The
social anthropologist Fei Xiaotong is considered the first to have proposed the introduction of the idea of shequ in China. The introduction of shequ started after the collapse of the previously existing social institutions (
danwei) during the mid-1990s. Shequ were supposed to relieve the state of certain duties and responsibilities by transferring them to citizens participating in the shequ. They take over responsibilities which in democratic states are assumed by organisations of the civil community.
Local government Each community has a community committee, neighborhood committee or
residents' committee (). The creation, adjustment or dissolution of a community committee is decided by the subdistrict government. A community committee is directly elected and consists of 5 to 9 members; it is responsible to the residents assembly, which consists of all residents in the community who are at or above the age of 18. == See also ==