| With the acceleration of urbanization process,urban water and environmental problems have become increasingly serious.Faced with the urgent urban water crisis,China launched the "Sponge City Program" in 2015,which is a comprehensive urban rainwater management strategy designed to alleviate the conflicts and challenges caused by urban flooding and water shortages.Although the sponge city construction initiative has attracted much attention and spread rapidly across the country,some challenges and risks still exist.The Sponge City Program is a complex and huge project with a wide range of influences,involving diversified stakeholders,and facing huge challenges in the construction process.From the beginning to the completion of the sponge city construction process,there may be controversy,and the impact may be positive or negative,and sometimes conflicting interests.In the entire project life cycle,failure to fully address the concerns of stakeholders and meet expectations will lead to project failure.Public participation in the planning and design of large-scale public infrastructure projects and construction projects is critical to the success of these projects.At present,the construction of sponge cities in our country emphasizes technology and neglects management.Therefore,it is very necessary to pay attention to the participation of stakeholders in the construction of sponge cities.At this stage,researches on public participation in the fields of urban planning,environmental protection,and social governance is relatively adequate.However,research on public participation mechanisms in the field of public infrastructure projects has not yet formed a theoretical system.This paper selected Guyuan city in Ningxia province as the study site to explore its sponge city construction.First,through literature review,this study established an index system and questionnaires,and then conducted field investigations,a total of 687 valid sample data are obtained;Secondly,similarities and differences of stakeholders’ willingness to participate in the Sponge City Program were analyzed from the perspectives of the government,enterprises,and communities;At last,through regression analysis,factors that affect the willingness of different stakeholders to participate were identified,and discussed the size of the factors that affect the willingness to participate,and propose coping strategies to increase willingness to participate.The results of this study showed that:(1)There are differences in the willingness of the government,enterprises,and communities to participate in the Sponge City Program.The willingness of the enterprise side to participate is lower than that of the government and the community;(2)The influencing factors of the willingness of the stakeholders to participate are the same and different.Bring benefits to stakeholders and expect that the construction of sponge cities to promote the use of water resources will have a positive effect on the willingness of diversified stakeholders to participate.The impact of the Sponge City Program has no significant impact on the willingness of stakeholders to participate;(3)The government considers the overall public interest to improve the urban water environment and living standards as a whole;The enterprise considers the economic profit and prioritizes the company’s finances,the acquisition of operational capabilities and related technical knowledge;The community residents proceed from their own interests,and community residents pay more attention to their own interests.Once they are violated,they will appeal to protect their own interests.The results of this study would help government managers to coordinate and resolve potential conflicts in sponge city construction program,promote sponge city program,and establish a good cooperative relationship between the government and the public. |
