Following General Secretary's View of China | Drawing a Scroll of "Happy City" with the Concept of "People's City" New Area | Community | Concept

"Let's go to the cafeteria!" When it was time for dinner, Duan Feng invited several old friends to walk into the community cafeteria together.

"Every day there are quite a few people here, and sometimes when they don't want to cook at home, they come over to buy some. Elderly people like us still enjoy discounts." Duan Feng, 70 years old this year, is a returning resident of Nanwenying Community in Rongdong District of Xiong'an New Area. Since the opening of the community cafeteria, he has also become a "loyal customer".

"Braised crucian carp, sliced meat and tofu, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fried cauliflower, four small dishes and four Mantou. With a 25% discount, we can pay 14 yuan." As he said, Duan Feng put the dinner plate on the table. "There are many kinds of dishes here, and the taste is not bad, very good!"

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xueren

He successively visited the community party and mass service center and community cafeteria, had friendly exchanges with community workers, on-site staff, and elderly people dining in the community, carefully checked the public situation ledger, and expressed affirmation for the convenient elderly care services provided by the community.

To build a good Xiong'an New Area, it is important to connect housing and work, so that the people can live steadily, live in peace, and have a bright future. We must simultaneously promote the modernization of urban governance, put in great effort from the beginning, actively promote the equalization of basic public services, and build a "city of the people" that is suitable for business and living in the new era.

Caring for the elderly and caring for food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

For the people, relying on the people, and benefiting the people. The "Xiong'an Chapter" of Chinese path to modernization focuses on the people and explores a new way to build a modern city with new development concepts. Over the past six years since the establishment of Xiong'an New Area, the people depicted in this "future city" have become increasingly prominent.

Stable living: within reach of a happy life

The Nanwenying Community in the Rongdong area of Xiong'an New Area has resettled more than 5000 relocated residents from Anxin and Rongcheng counties, with a total of 8 residential areas including Shangde Garden, Lixian Garden, and Juxian Garden.

Duan Feng's family was originally a villager from Hu Village, Dahe Town, Rongcheng County. At the end of 2021, they moved back to the Rongdong area and lived in a 100 square meter three bedroom apartment with their spouse.

"The houses are all furnished, with elevators going up and down. At that time, we checked in directly with our bags, and even the electric water heater was installed for us. Now we live in a spacious and bright house every day, with everything we need. Compared to our original life, life is even more beautiful!" said Duan Feng.

When talking about the feeling of living in a new home, Duan Feng happily introduced, "Every day, we can go to the community elderly care station to play cards, and when the weather is good, we can go out for a walk outside. The community also often organizes some elderly care activities. My spouse and I can receive a pension every month, and we don't have to worry about living or spending enough money. The children are also filial, and our lives are very happy."

Elderly people who come to practice dancing at the Nanwen Community Elderly Care Station. Photo by Li Xueqing, a journalist from People's Daily Online

The Nanwen Community Elderly Care Station, with a total area of 886 square meters, mainly serves nearly 3000 elderly people in the Nanwen Camp and Nanwen communities. It has free activity spaces such as calligraphy and painting rooms, activity rooms, multifunctional halls, health cabins, and rest rooms. Here, it provides services such as cultural entertainment, psychological comfort, and health guidance for the elderly, meeting the diverse elderly care needs of different elderly people, bridging the "last mile" of elderly care services, and allowing the elderly to enjoy a happy old age.

Here, the reporter saw Hou Dongqi, a migrant worker who was leading a dozen elderly people to sing. "When I used to live in the village, there weren't so many entertainment options, but now I can't even choose from them. Singing, calligraphy, table tennis, clapping exercises, fan dancing... everyone can be so happy!" Hou Dongqi said.

Wang Weixiao, Secretary of the Party Branch of Nanwenying Community, introduced that the Community Party and Mass Service Center can provide residents with 45 government and convenient services. Through party building joint construction, it has focused on creating a number of neighborhood level public service facilities, including community canteens, community museums, neighborhood stations, elderly care stations, sports activity rooms, and red e-commerce entrepreneurship incubation bases. Together with kindergartens, health service stations, and convenient commercial points, it has built a neighborhood level public service system with complete service functions, diverse service subjects, higher service quality, and better service efficiency.

Residents dine in the community cafeteria. Photo by Li Xueqing, a journalist from People's Daily Online

The Nanwenying Community Canteen officially opened on February 1st this year, adopting a "market-oriented+public welfare" operating model, open to community residents and tourists. It also offers exclusive discounts for the elderly: those aged 60-70 can enjoy a 25% discount, those aged 71-80 can enjoy a 50% discount, and those aged 81 and above can enjoy a 25% discount. Elderly people have completed real name authentication and can eat by brushing their faces in the cafeteria. At present, the Nanwenying community has provided real name authentication for over 1000 elderly people.

"The community cafeteria project is actually still in the exploratory stage, but when we see the happy smiles of the elderly coming to the cafeteria for meals, we think it is very worthwhile and we need to continue to expand and strengthen this project." Chen Churong, Deputy Director of the Convenience Service Station of the Nanwenying Community Party and Mass Service Center, said, "We will also collaborate with the community volunteer service team to provide meal delivery services for special elderly groups such as the elderly, living alone, and empty nest, further meeting the personalized, diversified, and popular home-based elderly care service needs of the elderly in the jurisdiction."

Living Well: Promoting Modernization of Urban Governance through "One Call, One Response"

Xiong'an New Area has "indigenous people" who transform farmers into citizens, as well as builders, relocated individuals, and entrepreneurs.

Governance of the city, putting in effort in embroidery.

Aerial photography of Rongdong area in Xiong'an New Area. Photo by Li Zhaomin from People's Daily Online

"In the early stage of relocation, the Rongdong area faced problems such as the inability of the relocated population to adapt to urban life and poor coordination and linkage among various construction and operation entities." Yang Shuo, Director of the Community Construction Department of the Rongdong Management Committee, introduced that timely responding to the demands of the masses and solving their urgent needs has become the top priority of all work.

To this end, the Rongdong Management Committee actively explores new models of community governance, introduces a "one call and one response" work mechanism under the guidance of party building, relies on the three-level grid of "community community community building", provides proactive services, and conducts comprehensive investigations, forming two accounts and three lists, and building a grassroots governance system with multi-channel demand expression, multi subject participation, and multi department linkage.

"The 'One Call, One Response' working mechanism was first implemented in the Nanwenying community of Rongdong area, coordinating and solving 292 residents' needs and demands, truly achieving that small things do not leave the community, and big things do not leave the area." Wang Weixiao said, "The Nanwenying community party branch has 8 grid temporary party branches, 1 community property party branch, 1 community cafeteria temporary party branch, and 25 building party groups, forming a party building pattern of linkage and co construction."

At the same time, based on the actual situation, the Nanwenying community, the construction unit of the area, and the resident unit jointly carry out theme education, volunteer services, and other activities to achieve information exchange and resource sharing, and jointly solve the needs and demands of the people.

Last August, a resident of Nanwenying Community reported that the construction of the gas station project on the east side of their residential area caused noise disturbance and safety risks. Some residents also expressed excitement during the WeChat group communication process. Community cadres immediately contacted the construction unit in the area to coordinate with the construction unit to stop construction at night, and directly contacted the planning department to understand the standardization of gas station site selection. They also organized a residential symposium with the building gate leader and resident representatives to provide policy explanations. At this point, residents can unravel their heartstrings and the "contradiction" can be successfully resolved.

Under the guidance of the community, the sense of ownership of residents in the jurisdiction in participating in community governance has gradually been awakened. Nowadays, Nanwenying Community has established seven volunteer service teams, including "Fireflies" and "Red Women's Army", which have played a positive role in policy theory lectures, living environment improvement, conflict resolution, and safety hazard investigation.

In 2023, the Rongdong area has held multiple community governance joint meetings. As of now, a total of 373 issues related to community disputes, house maintenance, structural renovation, community environmental hygiene, public facility maintenance, and electric vehicle charging and parking have been resolved.

A promising future: stabilizing employment opportunities at the doorstep

At the Party and Mass Service Center of Nanwenying Community, there is a "public sentiment ledger" that, although small, closely records the major, minor, and trivial matters of community residents.

"Hello, may I ask if there are any unemployed college students at home who need employment registration services?" At 9 o'clock in the morning, Chen Churong began a day of household visits to investigate the situation of unemployed college graduates in the community and registered them in the "Public Information Ledger".

South Wenying Community's "Public Situation Ledger". Photo by Li Xueqing, a journalist from People's Daily Online

"We will regularly investigate the situation of fresh and unemployed college students in the community, and based on the job information provided by the Rongdong Employment Service Center, we will accurately push them every two weeks, with each person pushing at least three times." Chen Churong introduced that in addition to providing employment assistance for college students, the community has also set up gig stations to collect information about nearby enterprises and post it on the bulletin board of the community, providing more intuitive information for community residents' job seeking and part-time work.

"Do we still hire people at our fast food restaurant?" "What are the specific job requirements?"... At the Nanwenying community gig station, staff often receive inquiries from the public.

Flexible employment is an important channel for increasing people's employment and income. Compared to traditional fixed work modes, gig work is more flexible and independent, and "doing gig work" plays an important role in promoting employment and income growth for elderly and disadvantaged individuals. Since the establishment of gig stations, fewer and fewer residents are unemployed at home, and more and more residents are employed at their doorstep.

Approaching the meal, Jing Dongying is preparing dishes at the community cafeteria. Photo by Li Xueqing, a journalist from People's Daily Online

At the age of 45, Jing Dongying found a job as a "food maker" in a cafeteria through the community. "Eight hours a day, a 5-minute walk to and from work, and monthly salary," said Jing Dongying.

To ensure high-quality and full employment for relocated residents, the Rongdong Management Committee of Xiong'an New Area has established a "1+N" employment service system, set up a Rongdong employment service center and gig station, built a supply and demand docking platform, and fully explored job opportunities. By conducting special activities such as large-scale visits and policy recruitment services, we aim to gain a detailed understanding of the employment status, skills mastery, employment intentions, training needs, and other aspects of each household. We will record the "public sentiment ledger" in detail and upload the data to the smart community platform.

In addition, Nanwenying Community also relies on the Red E-commerce Entrepreneurship Incubation Base in Rongdong District to provide free training for relocated residents. Combining traditional industries such as clothing, plush toys, furniture, luggage, etc. in the local area, developing emerging business models such as e-commerce sales, and encouraging young people in the community to increase their income and become rich through live streaming sales. The community red e-commerce entrepreneurship incubation base has launched 14 training courses, including "online entrepreneurship training courses" and "beauticians and makeup artists", training 448 students and helping 294 people find employment.

Since the beginning of this year, Xiong'an New Area has organized more than 80 recruitment activities, providing more than 70000 job opportunities for college graduates, migrant workers, and rural laborers.

Xiong'an New Area has entered a stage of large-scale construction and undertaking non capital functions in Beijing, with a focus on high-quality construction, high-level management, and high-quality development.

With swift steps and steady progress, the "City of the Future" is emerging day by day. The construction of Xiong'an New Area is a millennium long plan, which requires long-term efforts. We cannot be impatient or rely on it, but must work hard and work hard. On the new journey, we must strengthen our confidence, maintain our composure, work steadily, excel in our work, and adhere to the principle of drawing a blueprint to the end, working one after another, truly transforming the high standard urban planning blueprint into a high-quality urban development reality picture, and continuously composing a new chapter of high-quality development.