TY - JOUR
T1 - Citizen-initiated interactions in urban water governance
T2 - How public authorities respond to micro-level opinions related to nature-based solutions
AU - Shen, Chen
AU - Wang, Yang
PY - 2023/6/15
Y1 - 2023/6/15
N2 - Public opinions have become increasingly salient in water environmental governance, especially in implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) projects. However, current studies stay short of focusing on user-generated data on online participation platforms and the real public opinions and concerns on NBS revealed through spontaneous and interactive participation. In response to insufficient explorations on micro-level government-citizen interactions, this study adopts text mining analysis to evaluate different NBS-related topics and investigates targeted government responses from Jan 1st, 2020 to Apr 1st, 2022 in China. The results indicate that public participation on online government-citizen interaction platforms is no longer an instrumental level of “pseudo participation”. Based on dialogic communication theory (DCT), the silent majority affected by NBS started to express diverse opinions, i.e., seeking help, complaint, and suggestion. Moreover, instead of top-down or one-way communication, authorities are beginning to shift towards an open and responsive government. Hence, most public opinions can receive online feedback from authorities with targeted strategies (i.e., explaining, coordinating, and guiding), forming a “dialogic loop”. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of timely government response in NBS communication. Findings can contribute to developing a systematic understanding of micro-level demands associated with NBS and supplement relevant policies and decision-making for urban water governance. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
AB - Public opinions have become increasingly salient in water environmental governance, especially in implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) projects. However, current studies stay short of focusing on user-generated data on online participation platforms and the real public opinions and concerns on NBS revealed through spontaneous and interactive participation. In response to insufficient explorations on micro-level government-citizen interactions, this study adopts text mining analysis to evaluate different NBS-related topics and investigates targeted government responses from Jan 1st, 2020 to Apr 1st, 2022 in China. The results indicate that public participation on online government-citizen interaction platforms is no longer an instrumental level of “pseudo participation”. Based on dialogic communication theory (DCT), the silent majority affected by NBS started to express diverse opinions, i.e., seeking help, complaint, and suggestion. Moreover, instead of top-down or one-way communication, authorities are beginning to shift towards an open and responsive government. Hence, most public opinions can receive online feedback from authorities with targeted strategies (i.e., explaining, coordinating, and guiding), forming a “dialogic loop”. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of timely government response in NBS communication. Findings can contribute to developing a systematic understanding of micro-level demands associated with NBS and supplement relevant policies and decision-making for urban water governance. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
KW - Citizen-initiated contacts
KW - Government response
KW - Nature-based solutions
KW - Participation
KW - Public opinion
KW - Text mining
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151543632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85151543632&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137015
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137015
M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 405
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
M1 - 137015
ER -
