The outbreak of a virus such as COVID-19 is composed of a series of seemingly random incidents which are nevertheless interconnected. In a novel approach, this article adopts the event system theory (EST), established in organisational behaviour science, to investigate the mechanism of epidemic governance in Wuhan, the city which reported the first case of COVID-19 and thereafter successfully controlled the outbreak. The event system analysis divided Wuhan's response mechanism to COVID-19 into four dimensions: the graded response systems, the interactive relationship between multilevel entities of epidemic governance, the quarantine regulations and the governance of public sentiment. There are numerous lessons learned and effective measures developed from the 'Wuhan experience'. These lessons and measures can assist other cities around the world to cope with the current COVID-19 crisis and prepare their urban governance systems for similar infectious diseases in the future. We urgently advocate the addition of more scholarly discussion on urban epidemic governance by incorporating interdisciplinary approaches like EST in particular.
像新冠肺炎这样的病毒的爆发由一系列看似随机的事件组成，但这些事件却相互关联。本文采用一种新颖的方法，利用组织行为科学中确立的事件系统理论（EST）来研究武汉市的流行病治理机制，该市报告了首例新冠肺炎病例并随后成功控制了疫情。事件系统分析将武汉市对新冠肺炎的应对机制划分为四个维度：分级应对体系、多级疫情治理主体之间的互动关系、隔离条例和舆情治理。“武汉经验”给了我们许多经验教训，也形成了许多有效措施。这些经验教训和措施可以帮助世界各地的其他城市应对当前的新冠肺炎危机，并使各城市的城市治理体系为应对未来类似的传染病做好准备。我们迫切主张通过纳入跨学科方法，特别是 EST，开展城市流行病治理方面的更多学术讨论。.
Keywords: COVID-19; Wuhan; event system theory; urban governance.
© Urban Studies Journal Limited 2022.