Abstract:Examining the extent to which a community plays a role in the decision-making process in tourism planning can provide a better understanding of how tourism can benefit a community. Arnstein's ladder of citizen participation (ALCP) has been adopted by tourism scholars to understand both the nature of the participation expected of the community and the community's actual participation in tourism development. However, the literature on tourism development and community involvement is underdeveloped in the context of urban tourism, and few studies have attempted to identify the differences between the expected and actual participation of local residents. Identifying this gap reveals the reasons behind it and generates possible suggestions and solutions. The level of community participation of Tai O residents has been assessed by employing Arnstein's framework. The results indicated the difference between the level of local residents' expected and actual participation in tourism development. The reasons for the difference are identified, and suggestions for improvement are provided.

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This paper examines the problems of coordination between and within six jurisdictional players, namely the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Guangdong Province, the Central Authority (PRC), the Taiwanese Government, the Taipei Government and the World Health Organization during the SARS episode from November 2002 until August 2003. We found that the diverging political interests and entrenched administrative practices accounted for the poor coordination between and within these players. The obsession with "political correctness" has severely hampered "rational" decision making among the jurisdictional players. The highly fragmented and compartmentalised intra-jurisdictional public health system means that marshalling resources from health and non-health sectors is difficult.

The purpose of this research note is to give an overview of the Chinese Government's political response to the May 2008 deadly earthquake in Sichuan province. The specific focus lies in the political success of the Chinese government in managing the crisis in the context of a drastic socio‐economic transition. The way in which the Chinese government on the one hand publicly shifted her traditional reliance on authority by incorporating transparency and responsibility and on the other hand was able to rely on an unprecedented spirit of voluntarism shared among the Chinese population at large, facilitated a fast, efficient and appropriate response to this crisis.