Decentralization in a centralized system: Project-based governance for land-related public goods provision in China

The present paper describes a project-based governance approach for public goods provision in the domain of land administration, which is a new decentralized structure within the traditional centralized system in China. Project-based governance represents a new relationship between the central and local governments that aims to cooperatively provide land-related services for public interest projects. The top-down project allocation from the central government and the bottom-up project packaging by local governments together successfully improve the incentives of the local governments and, therefore, achieve the central government's aim of providing public goods and fostering economic development. We use Fujian Province of China as an example to show the operational process of the project-based governance approach, and we discuss in detail the features and potential effects of the new governance system. The paper may provide new evidence for governance innovation regarding decentralization in a traditionally centralized system.