Community Transformation Management in Changping

In Changping District in Beijing,100 Villages to Implement Community Transformation Management — Credentials Needed to Go In and Out

Source: Beijing Times 2010-07-29

http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2010-07/29/c_12384937_2.htm

Photo: After Shoubaozhuang village in Daxing implemented community management, residents need credentials to go in and out (file photo)

An enclosing wall constructed, a security gate, police box, people and cars stopped at a checkpoint. Continuing after Daxing District, Changping District is going on the path of village community management. Yesterday, this reporter found out from the Changping district government, that implementation would be carried out in 100 villages in the district. The first to begin a pilot program, starting in August, will be the 44 villages with an inverted population in Dongxiaokou town, Beiqijia town, Huilongguan town, and Shahe town.

Changping District will deploy patrolmen and floating population management personnel. They have been seeking applicants for 500 positions to assist public security. The important stress points in the villages, major streets and intersections, will be patrolled in all weather for 24 hours a day. Today the Changping public security has begun the first interviews with those who have applied and been accepted for the openings. When the complete number of recruits has been reached, they will begin the training. According to what this reporter has learned from the police, the successful applicants are men between the ages of 18 and 45, with a junior middle school education or above.

Each village implementing community management will synthesize the administrative effort into a central division composed of “three stations, two rooms.” The three stations are a Community Police Station, a Floating Population Management and Services Station, and a Public Security Patrol Station. The two rooms refer to a Civil Mediation Room, and an Inspection and Control Room. The Village Party Branch Secretary will concurrently become the head of this central division.

Many of the 44 villages in the pilot program are concentrated around Tiantongyuan and Huilongguan [neighborhoods with large affordable housing projects]. It is estimated that there as many as 275,000 members of the floating population in the area of Tiantongyuan, Huilongguan and Shahe, compared to only 60,000 permanent residents. This is a severe case of inverted population. These large scale communities offer many conveniences to migrants, but lead to an increase in public security problems. Recently, the city published a list of the criminal cases in the district, and one place stood out. The majority of cases occurred in villages on the periphery of Tiantongyuan.

This reporter was informed that a special study group was sent from Changping to investigate and learn from Daxing. After they returned they formed a vigorous leadership group composed of representatives from more than ten district government departments, to implement village community management.

Interview:

Reporter: What is the original intention of carrying out this policy in Changping?

Changping District Government Official: To ensure stability, promote harmony. We were inspired by the model of Daxing. Specifically, after Dashengzhuang village in Xihongmen town implemented the village community management, in three years there was not a single incident of a criminal case.

R: Will Changping just copy the Daxing model?

C: No, unlikely. We will take as a basic principle, “one village one strategy,” and not try for a meaningless uniformity. At present, everything is still in the planning stage.

R: How can you be sure the money will be there to implement this in the 100 villages as planned?

C: The district government will in advance appropriate 10,000,000 yuan [1,477,000 dollars] from the four towns to initiate the fund. After the community management is begun, according to what is necessary, the government will contribute 50% of further costs, sharing with the towns. It is unlikely the total cost for each town will exceed 25,000,000 yuan.

R: How will the government insure that there will be real results?

C: Those of the highest authority in each town, and those responsible for the effort, will at year end make an assessment –has it been successful or not? The responsibility lies with those in charge. After 9-20, the District Political Legal Committee will take the lead in assessing the progress of each village in the pilot program. If they have not achieved the criteria required, the leading cadre will be held responsible.

Viewpoints of different sides:

District government: Treating non-natives with bias is absolutely wrong

A staff member of the Changping district government said, The priority of this effort is to ensure public security, and to promote services to members of the floating population. It is not to treat non-natives with bias. “When people move from place to place too frequently they pose an inherent threat to public security. We have no choice but to act as we do.” A staff member said, at present, the details of the plan are still being drafted, but in time, both permanent residents and migrants will be brought under community management, and will not receive different treatment. Besides, the plan will alter according to the special characteristics of each village.

Residents: Community management means safety.

“As long as we are treated equally, it won’t be that bad.” Xiao Zhang is originally from Henan,and now lives in Zhongtan village with his family. In the village there are many migrants, and people constantly moving in and out. One constantly hears “At so-and-so’s house, something has disappeared.” Every summer, petty stealing goes on all the time. Xiao Zhang has lived in the village two years. He has not bought any large items, and does not dare to keep cash in the house. From what he has heard, the community management might be a good thing. But he worries that the policy might be directed only at migrants. “If that is so, it doesn’t matter what actions they take, we will just feel pushed out.”

Locally born and bred resident Mrs Zheng of Beiqijia town expressed warm support for the measure. “As an individual, I always have to worry about safety. Needing a permit to go in and out is a good thing. It will be much more convenient when everyone is checked.”

A sociologist: I suggest not building the enclosing wall

Beijing University sociology professor Xia Xueluan said that when the community management already developed in towns and cities is spread further to the village level, it will gradually bring about a more orderly life for the residents, and in that sense has merit. But there is also the matter of non-intervention in personal liberty. Building the enclosing wall is something which should be discussed further.

Xia Xueluan said, to strengthen public security one can increase the amount of patrolmen, exercise leadership to the residents, and also install security sensors. “But putting up an enclosing wall is like returning to the walled and moated city of antiquity. It is possible residents will end up disliking it.” For the measure to really work, the concept behind it must receive wide publicity and be fully explained to the residents.

On the scene investigation –a disorderly mess of privately constructed buildings everywhere– the woes of inverted population

Yesterday afternoon, this reporter went to Dongxiaokou town in Changping. He discovered that there is a disorderly crowd of villages north of Tiantongyuan. One can see privately constructed buildings strewn about in every direction. Small trucks come and go with a roar, transporting goods. Except for a few buildings near the city gate, the streets are a chaotic mess.

One tenant told this reporter, he lived in a three story building which a villager had built himself, just to rent out. The second and third floors were all composed of small rooms rented out to migrants. There were at times as many as 20 people living there.

According to a survey conducted by the Changping District government, of the 44 villages that will implement community management, the one with the smallest percentage of inverted population is Xiao Shahe village. The number of residents is 1217, the number of floating population is 1406: the ratio is 1:1.2. The most unbalanced place is Yantan village in Beiqijia. Permanent residents are 1893, migrants are 31,279, with a ratio of 1:16.5.

Background: The Daxing model receives the praise of Lui Qi

Dashengzhuang village in Xihongmen in Daxing was the first natural village to put into practice community management. On 7-3, Central Committee Political Bureau Committee and Beijing Municipal Party Committee Member Liu Qi, having investigated Dashengzhuang, said that the community management experience there would be spread to the whole city. He indicated that it was part of the plan to unify town and country in the overall development of Beijing.

Reporters Xia Mingqun, Wu Yini, Wang Penghao

东小口镇 Dongxiaokou town

北七家镇 Beiqijia town

回龙观镇 Huilongguan town

沙河镇 Shahe town

天通苑 Tiantongyuan

小沙河村 Xiao shahe village

燕丹村 Yantan village (in Beiqijia town)

中滩村 Zhongtan village

夏学銮 Xia Xueluan (professor)

Changping Community Transformation Management Draws Lessons from the Experience of Daxing

2010-07-29

http://news.sohu.com/20100729/n273839766.shtml

Source: New Beijing News 新京报

Carrying a pass to go in and out is a policy not directed solely at migrants

Starting 8-1, 44 inverted population villages in Changping will begin community management. The majority of residents this reporter interviewed said they were unclear about it, and needed to know more about its implementation before giving an opinion. But many tenants who had come from elsewhere were worried, as to whether it might be troublesome for them, and wondered if it would cause them to be treated with bias.

Zhongtan village is located on the Number 5 subway line near the Tiantongyuan stop, to the east of Tiantongyuan Xiyi district, in the vicinity of the Dongxiaokou district office. The Zhongtan village Party Branch Secretary said, with sealed management they could reduce the number of illegal motorbikes, and manage the floating population more effectively.

Yesterday at 6 in the evening, at the peak of the after-work rush, the roads in the village were filled to overflowing with people, and illegal motorbikes wending their way. By the side of the road were many small vendors. It was as buzzing with excitement as a country market. Garbage thrown down by the residents was everywhere.

The Zhongtan village Party Branch Secretary said, the original villagers in Zhongtan number a little over 1000, and those who have come from elsewhere to rent and have registered as temporary residents number over 30,000. Those who have not registered are about 10,000. This makes a total of 40 times more migrants than villagers.

One villager said, around here the principal income comes from renting rooms. Inside the village area on any space possible, a building has been built with rooms let to tenants.

In regards to “the village implementing sealed community management” most villagers know nothing about it. A villager named Mrs Shi said, she supports it, because the population is such a mix of people, and who knows what kind of people they are? The rate of crime is high, mostly petty theft, almost every day she hears of one or two incidents. Illegal motorbikes barge through streets, making accidents more likely. Once the sealed management starts, they can stop lawless persons from entering, and keep illegal cars and motorbikes out of the village.

Liu Mincheng, who came from Liaoning and rented a room in the village, said that requiring a pass to enter and leave did not do any harm. But she was worried this would lead to being treated with bias. She felt that over time it would come to have an unpleasant taste. “Who wants to feel like they are wearing a sign [identifying them as an outsider] every moment of the day?”

Proprietor of a small clothing shop Wang Yao did not support it. “Because prices here are pretty good, on weekends people come here from other places around Tiantongyuan. Some even come to do their laundry. If the village is sealed, they won’t be able to come in.”

According to the Zhongtan village Party Branch Secretary Zhang Liang, sealing off Zhongtan will be difficult. The village is large, its population is 40,000. There are several main roads in the village that are important communication lines, dividing the village into a number of sections. They will not be able to seal off these roads. Only certain parts can be really sealed off, and checkpoints at the intersections of these important roads.

Zhang Liang said, their village is famous for its high crime rate. Sealing off the village would help reduce crime, decrease the number of illegal vehicles, and help manage the floating population. To receive the support of the villagers, the village committee is seeking the opinions of as many villagers as possible. The majority have given their support. As for the cost, the money will come from the district government and the town. The village will not need to pay out anything.

After Daxing and Changping, will other districts carry out sealed management? Reporters of this newspaper have collected information on other districts which have a large floating population.

Shunyi District

The Shunyi District government office indicated that it was launching a pilot program of community management in the villages under its jurisdiction. The main aim is to provide public services for those villagers under the urban and rural unification project, to improve their living environment. It was really not a form of sealed management. If this pilot project gained the residents’ approval, it will be extended throughout the entire district.

Chaoyang

A leading cadre in the Chaoyang District government said, the district villages are currently carrying out a large scale land reserve plan [demolishing villages to make land available for development].Already the existing village structure has been smashed, and the villagers dispersed or relocated to other areas, therefore sealed management was not applicable. There is no plan to start a pilot project.

Shijingshan

Yesterday, this reporter was in Shijingshan, and found out that this district will at present not carry out sealed management. In fact, Shijingshan has already completed the removal of peasants out of their original residences. This year, three communities of Shijingshan were classified as ” listed up villages” singled out for reform to city level” [see note below]. This reform involves more than ten natural villages. Aside from these, the natural villages remaining in the district are not many.

[Note: ”Listed up villages.”

According to the Municipal Party Committee, this year the city government singled out 50 villages in which sanitation is poor and public security is in disorder, as places which will be “difficult at first but easier later.” These villages will be rebuilt as part of the city and countryside unification project. Because these villages are listed up as focal points of renovation to city level, they are called “listed up villages.”

Source:

http://news.dichan.sina.com.cn/2010/07/22/188506.html%5D

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Rural Economy Research Fellow Dang Guoying said, under the present circumstances, village community management is an unavoidable step. In large scale neighborhoods like Tiantongyuan and Huilongguan, this kind of management will improve public security. But relying on sealed management alone will not solve the problems brought about by the population shift. The government focus should be on controlling the non-conforming buildings, not restricting the movements of the floating population. If they contain the spread of illegal buildings, public security incidents will naturally become easier to check.

At the same time Dang Guoying believes that community management should not be sealed management, as an enclosing wall which shuts people up in pens, but rather it should be something that offers better management and services to the people.

In three months, 12 villages under sealed management have zero criminal cases

As this paper has reported, at the end of the 4th month Daxing district launched a pilot project of sealed management in 16 inverted population villages. Yesterday, the Daxing police reported, that in 12 of those villages there have been no criminal cases since the program was instituted. Overall, criminal cases declined 73%, and emergency calls were down 46%. A government poll finds the people’s rate of satisfaction is now 88.5%, and approval of the living environment has reached 95.5%

Sealed Management — receives praise and criticism in hot disputes

The sealed management carried out in Daxing since the 4th month has received widespread attention. After some days of hot discussion, the phrase “sealed management” was quietly changed to “village community transformation management.”

“The villagers need to take the initiative and determine it.” A person in the Daxing district police and district government said, whether or not this new model is implemented is decided by the villagers themselves. Village community management is a new innovation. For this new model to spread, it requires each village to decide what form of management suits their own practical reality.

On the spot investigation

Dashengzhuang village already in 2006 put into place the basic elements of village sealed management. This year 4th month, the Daxing district public security bureau advocated this village’s management as a model to emulate.

The other day at nightfall, this reporter visited Dashengzhuang to take a look. At every entrance to this village there is a security person checking for passes. When this reporter approached, the security personnel simply handed over a notebook, which was for visitors to the village to write in their names, and their identity card number, along with showing their identity card. Compared to three months ago, the village was more neat and tidy. There was no trace of the piles of garbage that previously had been piled up by the side of the road.

According to a villager, criminal cases had clearly declined. They had set up 13 security cameras inside the village, everyone had to register, and there were patrols at night. “there are still small incidents of stealing, but these are by people in the village we already know well.”

A cadre at the village Comprehensive Management Center named Zhao said, we have executed sealed management to the letter. Because public security has improved, people from outside are happy to come live here, “at present, most available places are filled –there are hardly any rooms to rent.”

Laosanyu village “The pass performs no real function”

Sealed management in Laosanyu is not as strict as one might imagine. The other day at nightfall, the flow of people going in and out was quite large, more than 20 people a minute. When this reporter went in, no one inspected his papers. Pedestrians and cars were able to move freely in and out, there was no sign the village was sealed.

On both sides of the road there were small retailers and a large quantity of people coming and going. Voices were noisy, and garbage had been thrown on the ground. A Mr Ma, proprietor of a photo studio just 5 or 6 square meters in size, showed this reporter his pass, but said it had no real use. The sealing of the village was on the surface only. Before there had been inspections to see if things were carried out, but no longer. The gate used to be locked at night, but now it is sometimes locked, sometimes not.

Mr Zhang, proprietor of a cellphone store, said, “I go to sleep fairly late, and the other day in the middle of the night I heard a noise. I went to look, and a thief was forcing open the door to my shop.” Mr Zhang said, the sealing had had no effect on his business. However, he wishes the management was stricter. He did not want loiterers to be able to enter the village.

A staff member at the Village Comprehensive Management Center said the population of Laosanyu is too large, during the day the stream of people is quite huge. It is difficult to interrogate and examine them one by one. They only stop those that seem suspicious. Finally at 10 in the evening, when the amount of traffic decreases, they can check peoples’ identities one by one. The reason they are not more strict is simply that they do not have the personnel. The public security recruits are at present in the middle of training. When the training is completed, they will intensify the community management effort.

Reporters: Zhu Kaiyun, Jiang Yanxin, Liu Yang, Gan Hao, Wen Ru, Wei Mingyan, Li Liqiang, Shi Shasha. Trainee: Fu Lijia

顺义 Shunyi

石景山 Shijingshan

挂账村 “listed up village”

党国英 Dang Guoying