China leads the way in modernizing urban governance for better future

Editor's note: Wang Yeqiang, a special commentator for CGTN, is a director of the Research Institute of Eco-civilization under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

A press conference briefing preparations for, and the importance of, the Beijing Forum on Swift Response to Public Complaints was held on Tuesday. According to the conference, the forum will be held from December 18 to 19. It takes "People's City, Better Future" as its permanent theme, and the annual theme of this year focuses on "Modernizing for People-Centered Urban Governance."

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new strategies targeting the promotion of the modernization of urban governance, especially in large cities. His remarks, such as "accelerating the development of a new type of urbanization that puts people at the core," and "urban governance being an important part of accelerating the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance," among others, form a complete and logically rigorous theoretical system for large city governance. Under the guidance of this theoretical system, Beijing has transformed its urban governance concepts and satisfied the aspirations of the public for a better life.

In 2019, in order to better serve the people, Beijing upgraded its 12345 hotline, which is a government service hotline in China that provides services to individuals and businesses, and launched a rapid-response mechanism for public appeals. This initiative has effectively connected the personalized needs of citizens with the precise services of urban governance institutions.

By swiftly addressing public demands and supporting the individualized development of its residents, Beijing has facilitated the transformation of its governance approach in this megacity toward a more service-oriented and collaborative model. Its unique characteristics and significant advantages are reflected in the following aspects.

First, promoting the integration of urban planning, construction and management processes: by fostering an awareness of full-cycle management, Beijing has piloted "health check-ups" in urban governance, ensuring that issues identified during the management phase are promptly fed back into the planning and construction stages. This creates a systematic, closed-loop management model that enhances coordination across all aspects of urban governance.

The city has also improved its territorial spatial planning system, ensuring the seamless integration of key functional area planning, specialized planning and street-level regulatory plans, thereby enhancing the scientific and practical aspects of urban and rural planning. Beijing has also advanced digital urban governance, increasing operational efficiency, strengthening risk prevention and control capabilities and improving the scientific, precise and intelligent management of the city.

Furthermore, adhering to the principles of "small-scale, gradual and sustainable" development to advance urban renewal and transformation: guided by the goals of pursuing high-quality development, Beijing has systematically promoted various forms of renewal. These include protective renewal to preserve historical heritage, functional renewal to drive the transformation of industrial dynamics, supportive renewal to enhance the quality of public services and social renewal to precisely meet residents' needs.

Through comprehensive upgrade and transformation of aging residential areas, inefficient buildings and industrial parks, a micro-profit and sustainable market-driven mechanism is expected to be established. Beijing also seeks to realize multidimensional value reconstruction, including urban value, recreational value and human-centered value, thereby enhancing the city's functionality and overall value.

Moreover, improving the community governance system and optimizing the social governance structure, Beijing has established a community governance framework centered on community-level Party organization, with residents' committees as the main body, community service stations as the foundation and social organizations as support. This system also incorporates the participation of homeowners' committees, property service companies, local organizations and residents.

Innovative approaches to community governance have been adopted, including advancing community deliberation and consultation mechanisms. By coordinating the allocation of social resources to sub-districts and communities, the city has encouraged widespread public participation in governance, effectively addressing the "last 100 meters" of community governance.

In addition, upholding the principle that a city is governed by its people, ensuring open channels for public participation in urban governance and fostering a model of diverse co-governance, positive interaction and shared responsibilities: by advancing reforms based on a governance checklist, the city has clarified the responsibilities and financial powers of various departments, strengthened the foundational role of grassroots organizations and actively mobilized social forces to participate in urban governance. This has created a new governance framework where everyone participates, assumes responsibility and enjoys the benefits.

Overall, in the five years since Beijing initiated an innovative set of reforms to address complaints related to urban governance immediately upon receipt, citizens' demands have been met with swift responses and efficient solutions. These reforms have enabled Beijing to pioneer a path of modern urban governance driven by citizen demands, offering a vivid example of putting people-centered development into practice.

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