Urban neighbourhoods worldwide are increasingly privatised, often manifested as gated communities. While in Western societies, this is linked to neoliberal urbanisation, the Chinese context differs. Private governance and civic participation in Chinese gated communities are less developed compared to Western counterparts, with the state playing a significant role in their development and management. Chinese gated communities operate within a complex triangular structure involving the state, market, and society. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted neighbourhood-level collaboration, with the state-centred governance system playing a crucial role, supported by grassroots groups and private organisations. However, this also revealed increased social tensions and complaints. This study explores the resilient governance of gated communities in China, focusing on their responses to both daily disturbances and shocks like COVID-19, examining social disputes and conflicts as negative feedback within the system.

The concept of resilience has been widely adopted from ecological studies into social and management sciences. Socioecological resilience refers to a system's ability to absorb disturbances and reorganize while retaining its functions. Studies on enhancing community social resilience include adaptive co-management (establishing connections for collective learning and self-organization) and collaborative governance (engaging non-state stakeholders in collective decision-making). Both emphasize cooperation, social capital, leadership, and shared understanding. This study views resilient neighbourhood governance as applicable to both everyday life and crisis management, requiring a flexible structure, social capital, strong leadership, and shared understanding. The existing literature on gated communities in China highlights the state's dominant role but also acknowledges a counterbalance game between the state, market, and society. This study expands upon this by considering the pre-crisis period's impact on crisis response.

This study uses an event system analysis (EST) to examine social tensions in three gated communities in Shanghai before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three communities were selected to represent different governance modes: weak-society (WSNG), weak-government (WGNG), and weak-market (WMNG). EST was used to analyze event attributes (strength, space, time) and the organizational hierarchy (institutions, governments, enterprises, and residents). Data were collected from interviews (37 in total), public media, social media, community records, and official notifications. A total of 125 events were classified according to their origins within the governance hierarchy.

The case studies revealed significant interactions and social tensions between the state, market, and society. **Weak-Society Neighbourhood Governance (WSNG):** Neighbourhood-A lacked an active HOA, leading to poor management and escalating conflicts. The pandemic highlighted the importance of spontaneous community organization, led by a volunteer, but this proved unsustainable due to reliance on individual efforts and a lack of established structures. **Weak-Government Neighbourhood Governance (WGNG):** Neighbourhood-B experienced significant property disputes, with limited government involvement. The lack of government coordination exacerbated conflicts between the developer, HOA, and PMC. The pandemic revealed the limitations of informal self-organization in providing essential services and managing conflicts. **Weak-Market Neighbourhood Governance (WMNG):** Neighbourhood-C initially functioned effectively under a self-governance model without a PMC during normal times. However, the pandemic exposed its vulnerability due to the lack of professional services, leading to shortages and conflicts. The reintroduction of a PMC became essential post-pandemic. Across all three cases, civic participation proved crucial for both daily management and crisis response, highlighting its role as the "last line of defence." Local government participation was vital for mediating conflicts and ensuring collaborative governance, but overbearing state control wasn't sufficient for resilience. The market, represented by PMCs, provided essential services and information flow, demonstrating its importance in crisis management. The absence of any one of the three actors (state, market, society) in the governance structure hindered the formation of effective collaborative governance.

The findings challenge the state-centric view of Chinese urban governance, highlighting the dynamic interplay between state, market, and society. The study demonstrates that a pre-existing collaborative governance mechanism is crucial for resilient neighbourhood governance. The counterbalance game between the three actors creates a complex system where a weakness in any one component can destabilize the entire system. The pandemic served as a stress test, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of different governance models and the critical importance of collaborative governance in mitigating crisis effects.

This study offers a nuanced understanding of resilient neighbourhood governance in China, emphasizing the importance of pre-crisis collaborative governance involving the state, market, and society. The findings suggest that fostering social capital, establishing clear communication channels, and ensuring balanced participation from all stakeholders are key to building resilient neighbourhoods capable of effectively managing both daily challenges and unexpected crises. Future research should explore the generalizability of these findings to other contexts and types of crises, examining the impact of climate change-related disasters.

The study focuses on the specific context of Shanghai, which may not fully reflect the diversity of gated communities across China. The event system analysis relies on data from specific sources; a broader data collection method could further enrich the findings. Further investigation into the long-term impact of the pandemic and the sustainability of the observed governance responses is warranted.