民国时期，北京市政建设取得了很大的发展。一方面，地方政府部门作为市政现代化的主要推动力量和建设者，领导开展了数量可观的公共建设工程，改善城市基础设施，并联合、监督相关企业，实现了城市公用事业的建设与发展，使北京城市现代化的水平取得了较大幅度的提高。与此同时，以市民为主体的民间力量同样也对城市建设发挥着不小的作用和影响。随着民国时期民间社会和城市生活更为活跃，现代市政建设的不断扩张和深化，以及“市民”观念的传播，北京市民对城市事务的参与意识不断增强。普通民众在承受现代化城市建设的影响，改变其传统的生活环境、态度乃至生活方式的同时，为保障个人权益，也主动或被动的参与到现代化的历程中，力图以自己的方式介入并影响城市变革的走向和程度。因此，在国家主导城市建设的整体趋向下，北京民间社会以自身有限的力量，进行着对城市公共空间环境的改造和建设。市民在法律允许的条件下，直接向市政当局提出了改善居住环境的要求，部分的直接参与了道路修造、排水系统改造等城市公共建设工程，并为市政建设项目提供了资金保障。面对电灯、电车、自来水等公用企业的服务质量问题和不合理收费时，市民大众则利用媒体和向政府呈文等方式，抨击企业不当行为，展开维权活动。对于市政当局的工作失误和不足，民间人士也提出了一定的批评。这些行动在保障市民用户权益，促使市政建设、服务协调发展方面取得了一定成果。同时，针对城市现代化中出现的问题，民间人士也对北京市政建设提出了相当数量的个人建议和计划，表达了完善地方政府机构，加强基础设施建设，发展文化旅游事业等复兴城市的希望和主张。这些市民参与因素对北京市政建设的发展都产生了不同程度的积极影响。另一方面，由于近现代中国城市社会发展的不平衡，使现代市政管理和公用企业的出现，造成了井水夫、粪夫、人力车夫等城市传统行业从业者利益和生计受损，从而引发了他们与力图推动市政现代化的市政当局和公用企业之间的矛盾冲突。其激烈、暴力的破坏行为对现代公共设施和城市管理的发展、完善造成了相当大的阻碍。同时，市民中也广泛存在着不遵守卫生、交通等方面的公共行为规范，以及盗用自来水、电力等公共资源等的不良行为习惯，也给市政建设的发展和城市环境形象的改善带来了负面的作用和影响。这些民间行为成为对北京市政现代化的严重制约因素，显示着民间参与因素的多样性和复杂性。

During the period of the Republic of China, the Beijing municipal construction has got great development. The local government as the main driving force, and the builder of the municipal modernization, made a large quantity of public construction projects to improve the urban infrastructure, and it also united with the enterprises and supervised them to improve the urban public utilities. Meanwhile, the citizen as the main forces of civil society also played a considerable role. Because of the civil society and urban living more active, modern municipal developing, and the spread of the concept "citizen", public participation in the urban affairs have become more conscious. When ordinary people accepted the impact of urban modernization, changed their traditional living environment, attitude and even the way of life, they also participated in the process of modernization actively or passively, and tried to intervene in the change of the city and impact on its trend and extent by their own way, to protect the rights of individuals. Therefore, in the situation that state dominated the city building, Beijing people utilized their own limited resources, to transform and construct the urban public space and environment. They participated in the public construction works, safeguarded their rights in the building process, and brought up the municipal proposals and plans to the local government. All of these affected the Beijing municipal development. Meanwhile, the conflict between practitioners of traditional urban trades and the municipal modernization, and the negative role of the bad general behavior and habits, became the serious constraints of the Beijing municipal modernization, demonstrating the complexity of the community involvement.