How to change the old community involving hundreds of millions of residents？

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 25th Question: How to change the old community involving hundreds of millions of residents?

Xinhua news agency reporter

Old streets, old hospitals, old houses, old facilities and poor living environment are the common "four old and one poor" dilemmas in old residential areas, which not only become a "worry" for residents in residential areas, but also a "heart disease" for modern cities and community governance.

At the end of 2017, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development launched pilot projects for the renovation of old urban communities in 15 cities including Xiamen and Guangzhou. By the end of May 2019, there were 170,000 old urban communities in need of renovation, involving hundreds of millions of residents. As a witness of urban development, old residential areas should not be forgotten, but the transformation work is extensive and large. What to change, how to change it, and how to establish a long-term management mechanism after the reform to test the level of urban governance.

From renovating houses to installing elevators, we should adapt to local conditions.

Shizi Street Community, located in Hongshan Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was built in the 1990s, with a construction area of nearly 40,000 square meters and about 1,800 households. According to Xu Kaijian, a resident of the community, the overall environment of the community was good when he first moved in. Later, due to the increase of vehicles, aging houses and personnel changes, the phenomenon of "dirty, chaotic and poor" in the community became more and more serious.

In 2017, the community lasted nearly half a year, invested more than 30 million yuan, and completed more than 40 renovation contents such as environmental renovation, house renovation and basic supporting transformation. Now the residential environment is clean and tidy, the roads are spacious, and the once dead corner of garbage has disappeared. "After the living environment has improved, everyone is embarrassed to destroy it again." Xu Kaijian said.

The situation of old residential areas is different, and it has become a "magic weapon" for transformation because of the needs of the people and local conditions. In 2017, Lanhuiyuan Community in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province carried out "micro-renovation" of old communities. During the renovation, dozens of residents’ strong opinions, such as the aging of water pipes and the interweaving of "three lines", were collected. "Around the pain points of residents, what to do first and what to improve, there is a road map." Zhuang Tingting, director of the Sushe Sub-district Office in Haizhu District, said that the renovation area of the community is 20,000 square meters, involving 6 million yuan. "Every penny is used for the’ blade’."

Yan Huang, deputy director of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, introduced at the previous briefing that the contents of the renovation of old residential areas are mainly divided into three categories: First, to ensure basic supporting facilities, including water, electricity, gas and roads; The second is to upgrade the infrastructure, including public activity venues, parking lots, property buildings, etc. The third is to improve the content of public services, including facilities such as providing for the aged, caring for the young and cultural rooms.

By the end of 2018, 106 old residential areas had been renovated in pilot cities nationwide, benefiting 59,000 households. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other cities have made a lot of explorations in installing elevators in old communities. In 2018, more than 10,000 elevators have been installed in old communities across the country.

Reform efforts to break the "three major problems"

The reporter learned that the process of renovation of old residential areas includes planning, fund pooling and comprehensive coordination. In this process, residents’ opinions are unified, old facilities are updated, and financing channels are common problems faced by many places.

-Disagreement among residents sometimes occurs. "Due to historical reasons, there are many illegal constructions on the ground and roof of the old community. When the construction team is demolished, it is often opposed by residents." Pan Yongxiang, head of the Property Management Section of the Housing Security and Real Estate Bureau of Xuanwu District, Nanjing, said that it is even more so to install elevators. The owners of different floors have different demands and it is difficult to reach a consensus.

In order to get a deeper understanding of public opinion, before the renovation, Xuanwu District held several residents’ councils to solicit opinions. During the renovation process, the relevant streets will also announce the design scheme and display samples in advance, and set up information desks and feedback boxes to understand residents’ needs and optimize the scheme in time.

-the transformation involves many units and is difficult to coordinate. The "third line" rectification has always been a "hard bone" that is difficult to chew in the transformation. "Pipeline chaos is a common phenomenon in the old city. Generally speaking, the cost of relocation is shared by all pipeline units, but because these units are mostly managed vertically, coordination is difficult." Lai Yongxian, director of the Urban Environmental Construction Management Office of Guangzhou Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, said that for this reason, Guangzhou has issued the implementation plan and technical regulations for the "third-line" rectification special work, and clarified the lead mode, technical specifications and cost sharing methods of rectification.

-There is a single channel for raising funds for transformation. The reporter’s investigation found that at present, the renovation projects of old residential areas in China are mainly funded by the municipal and district levels, and the society and residents are less involved. "According to the law of urban development, there are many work points and the duration is long, and the pressure of relying solely on financial funds is greater." He Jianfeng, director of Hongshan Sub-district Office in Xuanwu District, Nanjing, introduced.

In order to continuously promote the renovation of residential areas, Guangzhou and other places have explored the establishment of a fund-raising mechanism of "government investment drives enterprises and residents to jointly contribute". For water, electricity and other basic supporting facilities, it is guaranteed by special financial funds; For upgrading projects, residents are encouraged to raise some funds through self-financing and housing maintenance funds.

The transformation from "stranger society" to "acquaintance community" aims to build a long-term mechanism.

After the improvement of the residential environment, residents are more in pursuit of orderly community order and harmonious neighborhood relations. Taking the transformation of old residential areas as the carrier, Xiamen has established a tripartite linkage mechanism of community neighborhood committees, community industry committees and property enterprises to further enhance the residents’ sense of identity, belonging and pride in the city and build a "stranger society" into an "acquaintance community".

Many grassroots people believe that there are many problems in old residential areas, such as low income of residents, low willingness to invest, and congenital lack of hardware conditions. It is a long way to go to establish a long-term management mechanism after the transformation, which requires the joint efforts of communities, properties, communities and other subjects.

After the establishment of the Industry Committee in Cross Street Community, Nanjing Suyixin Property Management Co., Ltd. was recruited for management. Chen Haiya, the person in charge of the company, said, "After entering the company, we took the initiative to serve the residents, especially during the renovation period. Now the collection rate of property fees has exceeded 80%, and the charging rate of parking lots has reached 100%."

In Guangzhou, the communities involved in renovation set up a "construction management committee" to build a platform for public participation in the renovation of old residential areas, and combine it with the construction of convenient facilities and places such as community party and mass service centers, comprehensive service centers for the elderly, and maternal and child rooms to promote the implementation of mutual aid projects such as "micro-wishes" and community schools, so as to enhance residents’ enthusiasm for participating in community governance.

"The renovation of old residential areas is far more than just a construction project. It is more a social governance and grassroots organization mobilization work. It is necessary to mobilize ordinary people to seek common ground, co-build, co-manage, evaluate and share." Yan Huang said that in this process, the government must not do everything, but should strengthen policy support and guide residents to actively participate. (Reporter Zhu Xiao, Ying Zhou, Yan Zhihong, Jing Huaiqiao)