Governance Practices and Implications of British Metropolitan Areas from the Rescaling Perspective:A Research Based on Six Metropolitan Areas in England
In the era of globalization,metropolitan areas have emerged as the pri-mary geographic scale for global competition,rendering metropolitan governance a focal point in regional research.Departing from a rescaling perspective,this paper re-views previous research and the development trajectory of metropolitan governance,with a focus on England.It examines the evolutionary characteristics and operational modes of regional governance in the UK by considering the roles of actors,the in-struments employed,and the mechanisms at work.The paper finds that UK's metro-politan governance has evolved from relying on singular actors to involving plural stakeholders,from isolated approaches to collaborative methods,and from hierarchi-cal structure to networked systems.Drawing insights from the UK's experience and addressing challenges of governance scale in China's context of regional spatial res-caling,the paper offers recommendations for establishing a metropolitan governance framework,highlighting the importance of delineating actor rights and responsibili-ties,employing a combination of governance instruments,and enhancing regional governance network and mechanisms.