The illegal carport is piled with abandoned furniture, the flower beds are full of cat shit, mosquitoes and flies, residents have no place to take a walk, and the elderly have no suitable activity points... 3 years ago, the courtyard of Changdian No. 11, Xicheng District was a typical old community with dirty environment and dilapidated facilities.
At the end of 2019, residents, communities, construction parties, design parties, etc. held the first "roundtable meeting" to conduct in-depth discussions on community renovation.
"Put the questions raised by the residents of the community on the table, without hiding them, and have records from the heads of various departments and take them back for research." As a representative of the residents, Zhang Jiangping, who had lived in the No. 11 courtyard of Changdian for 37 years, attended the meeting.
"Roundtable Council" is an extension of Beijing's immediate handling of complaints. If answering complaints is a proven prescription for Beijing’s urban governance, then the innovative mechanism of mass work such as the “Round Table Council” is a targeted treatment that directly attacks the lesions.
lived here for 37 years, and my house has changed.
"Changdian Community, you, me and him, cultivate spiritual civilization flowers together." The red brick walls, white background, and some mottled 14-character slogans have been hung at the entrance of the courtyard No. 11, Changdian for decades.
No. 11, Changdian, located in the Dashilan area of , was built in 1985. It was originally the China Unicom dormitory, and Zhang Jiangping was the first group of residents here.
"I came in as soon as the building was built. When I first moved in, there were still lights of lights, and many neighbors didn't move in." Walking by the slogan, Zhang Jiangping touched the words on the wall, and felt a little moved, "I just got married at that time, and later I had a son, and now I have a grandson, which has been several generations."
Time has been passed, and the new building has become an old courtyard. Over the past 30 years, Changdian No. 11 Courtyard has gradually become an old community, with old supporting facilities, small public spaces, random storage of garbage, flying cables, and losing management of green space. These issues have also become the main content of residents' complaints by calling 12345. Before the renovation of the courtyard of Changdian No. 11, the old flower beds were filled with cat shit, mosquitoes and flies, and the environment was dirty and messy. Photo provided by Da'an Lanying Community, Dazhalan Street, Xicheng District
"The old flower beds in the community are filled with cat poop, mosquitoes and flies. The environment is dirty and messy, and there is no place to rest. Originally, there was an bicycle shed next to the flower bed. It was black and dirty and piled with all kinds of debris. We call it 'Huaguoshan'." Zhang Jiangping stood in the yard and could clearly recall the past like this place. "The road is bumpy, and the suitcases are clattering all the way when traveling, and the whole yard can be heard."
The original car shed in the yard No. 11, Changdian, was filled with dilapidated bicycles, abandoned furniture and other debris. Photo provided by Da'an Lanying Community, Dazhalan Street, Xicheng District
Now, these can no longer be seen in the Courtyard of Changdian No. 11.
Enter the community, the road surface is flat, the flower beds are clean, and a runway is circling around it. Under the shade of the tree, the old man sat on a wooden chair to enjoy the cool air, played chess and poker at the square small chess and card table; in the afternoon, the children would ride small tricycles in the square and make a fuss.
The renovated Changdian No. 11 courtyard has a flat pavement, clean flower beds, and a runway circling around it. Photo by Zheng Xinqia, Beijing News reporter
Zhang Jiangping has many hobbies: singing, dancing, calligraphy, recitation... Now these can be realized in the community. The "Huaguo Mountain" once filled with miscellaneous items has been transformed into multiple public spaces. She often teaches and exercises with her friends to enrich her retirement life.
There are many public spaces in the courtyard of No. 11, Changdian, and Zhang Jiangping often comes here to sing and dance. Photo by Zheng Xinqia, Beijing News reporter
Zhang Jiangping exercises in the fitness equipment in the yard. Photo by Zheng Xinqia, Beijing News reporter,
The little grandson also benefits from this. This summer vacation, the child is raised by my grandmother. When I have nothing to do in the evening, the two of them will ride the newly installed smart exercise bike in the small square together, one by one, comparing who can step on it faster; when I can't sit at home, Zhang Jiangping will also take him to the community library to do homework, read books, and play with toys with the children. In order to tell other children stories, the young grandson worked harder to read books.
After living in for 37 years, Zhang Jiangping's doorstep completely changed.
How to change old communities? First, please ask residents to talk about the different transformation of
. Unlike ordinary old communities, the "metamorphosis" of Changdian No. 11 Courtyard has gone through a lot of processes such as soliciting opinions, designing plans, and persuading households.
In November 2019, the public space project of Changdian No. 11 Courtyard was successfully selected into the Beijing "Small Space, Big Life - Micro Space Renovation Action Plan" from a large number of application sites, becoming one of the first 8 projects to be piloted.
Li Geng, secretary of the Party Committee of Da'anlanying Community, introduced that at the beginning of the renovation, the community put a lot of effort into demolishing the "Huaguo Mountain" on the side of the community square. "Huaguoshan" is an illegal building built by a resident for more than 30 years to store personal belongings such as dilapidated bicycles, discarded furniture, etc. "I knew I was going to demolish the shed, but the resident had a resistant attitude. The staff went to find him, but he didn't even let him in. Later, the community mobilized neighbors, colleagues and family members to persuade him. After communicating seven times, he finally got the consent to demolish the illegal building." The illegal building built in the courtyard of No. 11, Changdian, was called "Huaguoshan" by the residents. Photo provided by Da'an Lanying Community, Dazhalan Street, Xicheng District
The disappearance of "Huaguoshan" has given the square a greater room for transformation. In order to fully understand the needs of residents, the street has changed the previous working model of "government work and the masses look at" and conducted full research on public opinion.
In the preliminary preparation stage, the street and community party committees, community party members, building managers, and volunteers conducted 7 rounds of full-sample surveys in the community through telephone interviews, questionnaires and door-to-door visits, and collected more than 1,200 opinions to fully understand the needs of residents. We also actively invited 204 households and 714 residents to hold a "roundtable meeting" to discuss matters such as renovation and construction, functional layout, landscape improvement, operation and maintenance. This has also become an important reference for the team of responsible planners to design new public spaces.
Zhang Jiangping is a member of the "Roundtable Deliberation".
"Everyone has different ideas for transformation. The designer hopes that this space will look good and beautiful, and the construction party will consider issues such as construction and funding. As residents, we care more about whether it is convenient to use it." Zhang Jiangping said that when discussing functional zoning, the initial idea was to design a larger conference room and a smaller restaurant for the elderly, but she believed that the meeting was not held every day, and residents had to eat every day. Food is the most important thing for the people. It is recommended to leave more space for the canteen. The plan adopted this suggestion.
Public restaurant in the courtyard of Changdian No. 11. Photo by Zheng Xinqia, reporter of Beijing News
In the end, nine public spaces were formed in the community, covering party and mass activities, residents' collaborative discussions, parent-child education, elderly care and health, catering canteens, convenience properties, garbage classification, transportation microcirculation, leisure and sports, etc. Until now, these community spaces are still being improved with the joint advice of residents.
"The red classroom and health lectures are very good, but the time should not be too long. The old man and the old lady can't sit still in the hour of class." "The comrades from the police station talk about anti-fraud for the elderly. We can listen more, and it's no harm." "The utilization rate of the table tennis table is quite high. People come to play every day, and facilities need to be added. The ground is best to be modified." On September 9, in the Party and Mass Studio, Li Geng and Zhang Jiangping and several residents were discussing how to better utilize the existing space.
"Community space serves community residents. The residents have the final say on how to use it." Li Geng said that the community hopes to make full use of the cultural resources around Liulichang to bring in more activities. At present, the community senior class has opened courses such as calligraphy, Tai Chi, ballet body shape; this summer vacation, a youth intangible cultural heritage experience was also arranged in the public space, allowing children to learn handicrafts here; there are time-honored brands such as Tongrentang and Dai Yuexuan near the community. You can invite old Chinese doctors to give you a lecture, or take you to the Tongrentang Museum to visit on-site.
does not limit time and space and topics, and responds to complaints more efficiently
Whether it is the transformation plan for community space or the introduction and selection of community activities, the "Roundtable Council" mechanism has played an important role.
Li Geng introduced that the "Roundtable Council" is an extension of the work of handling complaints immediately. Residents have problems that need to be solved, gather opinions and suggestions, and find relevant departments to "work on-site".He clearly felt that this new method of resident deliberation makes the government more efficient in "handling complaints immediately".
Beijing people are familiar with handling complaints immediately. From the initial "whistleblowing report" to the legislative introduction of the "Beijing Regulations on Handling Asking Ask Complaints" for this working mechanism, to the new mass working methods that extend to the extension of the answers immediately, it is the people-oriented evolution theory of Beijing's urban governance.
As a super megacity, the special status of the capital makes the construction of Beijing's governance system extremely important. General Secretary Xi Jinping also put forward higher requirements for urban construction and management for Beijing.
In order to implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, Beijing has carried out a series of innovative explorations. Especially since 2018, it has gone from "street and township whistle blowing and departmental reporting" led by party building to "acting when hearing the news and handling complaints immediately" and the "seven things" and "five natures" monitoring evaluation index system , which focuses on people's livelihood, and then to "promoting active governance and handling before complaints".
immediate handling of complaints is not an innovation that can be achieved overnight. The Beijing citizens' consensus that the number of acceptance and handling has doubled year by year, repeated exploration of the working mechanism, and "fighting 12345 if there are any problems", proves that this is a method of urban governance that has grown up in practice.
On September 24, 2021, the 33rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 15th Beijing Municipal People's Congress 4 People's Congress reviewed and passed the "Beijing Regulations on the Immediate Reception of Complaints". This mechanism was officially established in the work of government departments in the name of law, further clarifying the rights and responsibilities of grassroots units.
The difficult problem of multi-head management in the past has a solution guided by laws and regulations. Li Geng recalled that a resident called 12345 to report that a road in the community was dilapidated and inconvenient for the elderly to walk. For this reason, the community held two "roundtable meetings". First, the road owner, China Unicom staff, was invited. The other party agreed to repair the road, but the authority only covers the roads inside the community. Then, the relevant person in charge of municipal roads was invited to discuss the maintenance of roads outside the community. Since road maintenance involves noise and space occupation, the meeting also solicited opinions from residents on the first floor and parking residents. After reaching a consensus by multiple parties, the road was repaired in just about a month.
On September 9, Changdian No. 11 Courtyard held a roundtable meeting. Photo by Zheng Xinqia, reporter of Beijing News
The "Roundtable Council" has no restrictions on time, space, or topics. Residents can hold it at any time if they have any demands, or it can be held in conference rooms, residents' homes, small squares, etc. Just a while ago, residents also made suggestions on community restaurant services - the delivery time for elderly meals is 11 a.m. Some elderly people go out for medical treatment in the morning and often come back more than this time, hoping to delay it until 11:30; in addition to elderly meals, some residents believe that youth meals should also be added to facilitate the elderly to take care of their children.
It is understood that since this year, Changdian No. 11 Courtyard has achieved "zero demands" and has become a benchmark for Xicheng District community to carry out the "response immediately" work.
Alley held a round table meeting to solve the difficulty of charging when using the toilet
In Dashilan Street, Xicheng District, many communities have adopted the "round table council" mechanism.
Qianmen Xiheyan Street is an alley of nearly 1,000 meters. There are more than 600 permanent residents. Most of the areas under the jurisdiction are bungalow courtyards, and the elderly population accounts for the vast majority. Most of the courtyards do not have toilets in the courtyard, so it has become a problem for residents to use the toilet. Because it is close to Dazhalan Scenic Area and Tiananmen Square , there are many tourists. During the peak holiday tourism period, residents still need to wait in line to use the toilet in the alley.
Faced with the problems of "difficulty in use of the toilet" and "far away from the toilet" reported by residents, Zhang Chenqian, Party Secretary of Xiheyan Community of Qianmen, opened the "roundtable council meeting" into the alley grid, convened multiple departments such as the Urban Management Committee and sanitation to communicate face-to-face with residents. After repeated visits and on-site investigations, the first-class public toilet covering an area of about 50 square meters was built at No. 124 Xiheyan Street, Qianmen. The new public toilet not only has multiple toilet seats, but also meets the needs of special groups and strengthens the functions of keeping warm, lighting, deodorization, and ventilation. When the new public toilet was completed, 36 households jointly wrote a thank-you letter. Some residents told Zhang Chenqian, "In the future, there will be no need to run to the toilet on rainy, snowy, dark and dark.”
In 2021, as one of the few high-rise buildings concentrated, Qianmen Xiheyan Community responded to the call of relevant departments and installed an electric vehicle intelligent barrier-entry system in the elevators of high-rise buildings. After a period of time, electric vehicle owners took the battery down and took it upstairs to charge. Zhang Chenqian convened the deans of each building to understand the situation and found that residents supported the regulations that electric vehicles were prohibited from going upstairs, but there was no place to charge nearby. In light of the opinions of residents, the community held a roundtable meeting to bring relevant street departments, property, charging facility providers and residents together to discuss, and finally decided to install charging piles and carports in front of buildings 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 of the community. In early February this year, the electric vehicle charging piles in the building yard of Qianxi Community were officially put into use.
Deputy Secretary of the Dazhalan Street Working Committee and Director of the Office Su Jiyang introduced that Dashilan Street is located on the southwest side of Tiananmen Square. It is located in the central area of old Beijing, with an area of 1.26 square kilometers. It has 9 communities under its jurisdiction and a permanent population of 28,900. It is both a commercial and tourist area and a living area. It has dense bungalow courtyards, weak infrastructure, complex population structure, and diverse people's demands.
For more than three years, the Dashilan area has innovated the "Round Table Work Method" and uses the virtual "Round Table" as a carrier. Representatives from all parties jointly discussed and promoted the resolution. From January to August this year, the average score of the street's immediate handling of complaints ranked 14th in Beijing, and the first in the core area.
"I don't understand so many regulations. Anyway, I feel that in recent years, some people have listened to the people's words. I am happy to take the affairs of our people seriously! "Zhang Jiangping stood by the renovated flower bed and said to the reporter, "Help my aunt take a photo here." "She pulled her cute mobile phone bag in front of her.
Beijing News reporter Dai Xuan Xu Meihui Jing Ruyue Li Xintong Wang Wei
Editor Liu Mengjie Proofreader Zhao Lin
