After approximately 30 years of development, public-private partnership (PPP) has attracted increased attention as an alternative procurement paradigm. However, fresh research on PPP has emerged in the last decade that needs to be summarized. This study selects publications on PPP that were published in recognized journals between 2012 and 2021 from the Scopus database. In target publications, methodologies employed, contributions made, and fields applied are summarized. Social network analysis is used to summarize five core topics in PPP from a multidisciplinary perspective; they are risk management, contract management, CFFs and CSFs, economic and financial issues, and performance management. Additionally, the research limitations and future development direction of PPP are also examined. This study can shed some light on future research on PPP and can contribute to the practice of PPP.

(1) Background: Public–private partnerships (PPPs) play an essential role in sustainable cities and are widely applied in the public environment, health, and transportation sectors. One of the main functions of PPP projects is to attract private capital to provide better public services and infrastructure. PPP projects require government investment, potentially threatening the debt of local governments. However, few scholars have shown attention to the relationship between PPP projects and local government debt. (2) Methods: Therefore, this study selects data from 36 cities in China from 2014 to 2018. Ordinary least squares (OLS), quantile regression, and placebo tests are used to investigate this claim. (3) Results: This study finds that PPP projects can affect local governments’ debt; based on this result, this study further proposes that the effect of PPP projects on local government debt has regional heterogeneity. Compared with eastern regions, PPPs in central and western areas of China have a noticeable impact on local government debt. This study also investigates the effect of different types of PPP projects on local government debt. In terms of the number of new additions, comprehensive urban development PPP projects have the largest effect on the exacerbation of government deb. In terms of the amount of new investment, environmental protection PPP projects have the greatest exacerbating effect on government debt. (4) Conclusion: These findings try to identify PPPs’ effect on local government debt. It is of potential reference for sustainable cities and helps to provide better transport, environmental, and health public services.

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has threatened the state's governance and public safety. This study investigates whether and how public participation can affect central government policy response to this pandemic in the context of China.Methods: This study constructs the theoretical framework based on theoretical analysis, and Social Network Analysis is used to analyze data on the public participation, New Media, and the central government response in this pandemic.Results: Findings show that the Chinese central government does not always adopt top-down elitist governance strategies in risk management. The central government will also adopt the bottom-up governance strategy triggered by public participation. In this process, New Media acts as a catalyst. Specifically, when faced with a public emergency and needs a policy response from the central government, public participation firstly creates “participation” with the authority of the media, forms public opinion, and then the prompt policy response from the central government.Conclusion: This study confirms that the central government will refer to public participation to decide the policy response. It also shows that the theory of government response applies to both the local government and the central government.