Hotline Beijing: A CGTN documentary reveals Beijing's innovative solution to megacity governance

Over half of the world's population are living in urban areas. According to a UN report, by 2050 at least one in eight people will be residing in a megacity with over 10 million inhabitants. The world is calling for solutions for future urban governance.

Beijing, home to over 21 million permanent residents, has been at the forefront of addressing the challenges of megacity governance. In 2019, the Chinese capital launched the "Swift Response to Public Complaints" reform to tackle them. Its 64 existing hotlines were merged into a single 24/7 public service, the 12345 Hotline.

Over the past six years, the Hotline has recorded over 150 million requests. Ninety-seven percent of them have been happily resolved.

How does it work? Why can it work? Could this model be applied in other megacities around the world?

On December 14, CGTN is airing a new documentary, Hotline Beijing. Through twelve stories, we reveal how the Hotline and the reform are working to address the needs of Beijing's residents and promoting the city's endeavors to build a better future for everyone.

Demand-driven Design

The core idea behind the Beijing Hotline is that any issue should be resolved with a single call. Achieving this requires sophisticated design at all levels.

Each call is logged according to the time and location, and filed under one of some 2000 categories. The front line is manned by a professional team of telephone operators who smoothly channel an average of 60,000 incoming requests a day. A complaint is quickly passed on to the appropriate organization within as little as a minute.

Meanwhile, a performance review and ranking program rates Beijing's 343 sub-districts according to their responsiveness, completion and overall performance. "The points difference used to be measured in tens. Now it's down to fractions of a point," says Hou Jianjing, the reform's task force director in Tiantongyuan North Sub-district. The ranking ensures that officials at every level are held accountable and take every call seriously. 

Tech-powered Innovation

As a demand-driven system, the Hotline aims at solving all the problems reported by residents. However, Beijing's reform takes things one step further – to proactive governance.

Information collected by the Hotline, after all personal data is removed, is entered into a database. As a reflection of residents' demands, the accumulated data will be analyzed and compiled into reports, predictions and studies "to support accurate, scientific decision-making," as Prof. Meng Tianguang from Tsinghua University explains.

Analysis of the big data generated by the Hotline identified a problem with the provision of care for senior citizens, and led to 1,000 care centers for the elderly being established. It also spurred the authorities, working with various social organizations, to introduce measures for improving employment prospects for people with disabilities.

People-centered Philosophy

The Hotline also mobilizes various social groups to find innovative solutions to problems.

A common issue in many parts of China is the noise created by people dancing outdoors in the morning and evening, which causes conflicts with local residents. In Beijing, a solution has been found, using high tech.

With the help of the Hotline, community workers in Beijing's Jinrongjie Square contacted the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Experts there suggested introducing a cutting-edge loudspeaker system that uses directional sound propagation technology. Now, while the dancers can enjoy dancing and music in the square, the nearby residents are no longer suffering because of the noise.

However, implementing a swift response mechanism that addresses all complaints, regardless of how trivial or complex, can often be a thankless task.

"It requires political courage and will. It's a shining example of how Chinese modernization works and a great example of Chinese democracy," says Zhang Shuhua, Director of the Institute of Political Science at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Six years on, the response mechanism is firmly established as a main focus of Beijing's public service work. The authorities are convinced it's a viable plan for the long term. What the CGTN documentary Hotline Beijing reveals is that, whatever the challenges, the Chinese capital is resolute in its determination to forge a path to a better future for all.