Abstract: This paper conducts a case study on Y government's relocation which illustrates that the local government completed the process of transfer through public engagement, resulting in a“reverse social transformation”.Unlike the other places,the social transformation in Y is a reverse social transformation.The case of Y city indicates that there are mounting pressures on the government of China to implement a thorough transformation from a politically mobilized public engagement to empowered public engagement.Such a transformation not only requires the awakening of public consciousness,but also sociological knowledge that helps to bring policy-makers and the masses together in making public policy. It also requires the transformation of sociological paradigms from professional sociology to public sociology.