本文以我國目前五個直轄市為研究對象，藉由文獻探討、焦點 團體座談及深度訪談之研究方法蒐集資料，嘗試釐清及探討縣市改制為直轄市初期，「區公所」法制定位與治理職能等相關議題。本文首先針對直轄市「區公所」制度演進作一介紹，進而從委任委託過程中，探討區公所的法制定位，以釐清市府、各局處與區公所的關係；繼之，說明鄉鎮市改制為區後，其治理職能的轉變，並利用質性資料，分析區公所可能面臨的治理議題，包括「一致性與差異性」、「權限劃分」、「人力資源分配」、「區長職等」與「區整併」等問題，並試圖提出政策建議，例如落實「區政會議」與「區務會議」的功能，以避免前述問題發生。最後，本文發現，區公所究竟是直轄市政府的「派出機關」？亦或是民政局之「附屬機關」？在法制定位與實際狀況下，目前確實仍有極大的認知落差和爭議；另外，隨著鄉鎮市改制為區後，原先的自治權限及業務功能已移撥到市府相關局處中，未來直轄市授權區公所的業務範圍和權力幅度，仍須在如何有效強化區公所的服務傳遞能力，以確實提升行政效率與效能的前提下，逐步調適。

The article attempts to expound and study the legal system and governance competency of the districrt authorities in Taiwan’s five special municipalities by literature review, focus group interview and in-depth interview. First, we take a look at the institutional evolution of the districtlevel authorities and clarify the relationship among the city government, bureaus and district offices in the process of delegation of duties. Second, the authors explain the change of the governance competency of district offices after the reorganization of counties and cities into special municipalities, and analyze which new governance issues the district offices may face by the use of qualitative data, including “consistency and differences,” “the division of authority,” “the allocation of human resources,” “the grade of district mayor” and “the combining district.” Besides, we make some policy proposals in order to solve aforementioned problems. Finally, we consider that the gap between legal system and reality is still wide regarding the positioning of district-level authorities. In the future, the scope of mission and power on the district-level authorities must be gradually adjusted on the premise of effectively strengthening service delivery capacity of the district office in order to enhance administrative efficiency and effectiveness.