Neighborhood governance, social capital, and residents’ well-being: Evidence from Beijing, China

Neighborhood governance efficacy is of significance to enhance residents’ well-being. One of the main challenges in neighborhood governance lies in overcoming the dilemma of “weak participation,” cultivating social capital within communities, and thereby improving governance effectiveness, including fostering neighborhood development and increasing residents’ sense of happiness. Taking Beijing as a case study, this paper analyzes the impact of different neighborhood governance modes on residents’ happiness and their variations across typical communities, based on survey data, spatiotemporal big data from online platforms, and remote sensing imagery. It also examines the indirect effects of various dimensions of neighborhood social capital. The study finds that in high-income communities, a bottom-up governance mode centered on residents’ self-organized activities significantly enhances residents’ subjective well-being. In contrast, in low-income and mixed-income communities, a top-down governance mode led by grassroots government intervention exerts a more positive effect on residents’ subjective well-being. Neighborhood participation and social networks play important mediating roles in the relationship between governance modes and happiness. Neighborhood governance should be designed with a targeted mode with full consideration of neighborhood heterogeneity in order to enhance governance efficacy. In the process of cultivating and building neighborhood social capital, particular emphasis should be placed on promoting residents’ neighborhood participation and the development of social networks.