District marks founding of China's first residents' committee
Shangcheng District celebrated the 15th anniversary last week of the confirmation of Shangyangshi Street Residential Community Committee as the country's first residents' committee by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The committee launched the Shangyangshi Street Residents' Negotiation and Consultation Brochure during the celebration, held on June 28. The brochure contains 15 years of community experience and innovative measures taken to enhance the welfare of residents.
"The brochure is the essence of trials that residents have gone through in 15 years," said Guo Ziyuan, Party secretary of the residential community. "It is the biggest treasure of the community."
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government sought to establish a new and better neighborhood organization system. Hence, the residential committee was born with local adaptation in Shangyangshi.
On October 23, 1949, residents from the community elected their own committee members, headed by Chen Fulin. The establishment of the Shangyangshi committee heralded a new chapter in China's civil history.
In 2007, the Ministry of Civil Affairs confirmed it as the nation's first residents' committee.
Thereafter, Shangyangshi has developed into a model for nationwide residential communities in neighborhood management.
Residents discuss their ideas at the roundtable discussion.
For instance, the old community has been facing a shortage of parking space for years. But through democratic ways, the committee and residents have figured out effective measures to address the issue.
Firstly, committee members visited residents and collected their suggestions. Then they hosted meetings, inviting residents to negotiate. These meetings were livestreamed online in efforts to ensure everyone could participate in them and express their own opinions.
As a result, effective measures were implemented. The committee collected information on all residents' vehicles and recorded it on a big data platform. They then built a parking system that only allowed residents' cars in and created more parking spaces in hidden nooks. A volunteer team made of 12 residents was established to coordinate with the committee about management.
"Let more residents come to discuss daily issues. That helps us figure out measures effectively and smoothly," Guo said.
