Guest
Wang Hua, District Mayor of Jing’an District
Interview Background
Mr. Wang Hua, district mayor of Jing’an District, was invited to the program “2021 Summer Hotline: District Mayor Interview” launched by Radio Shanghai. This program is to contact relevant departments and units with host Haibo to respond to residents’ concerns for the worries, troubles, anxieties, and expectations.
Host:
Staying true to the original aspiration, undertaking the mission, I do practical work for people’s livelihood! The “2021 Summer Hotline: District Mayor Interview” officially debuts. The program is jointly launched by Radio Shanghai, Shanghai Construction and Transportation Work Party Committee, Shanghai People’s Suggestion Solicitation Office, 12345 Shanghai Citizen Service Hotline, and Shanghai Observer of Jiefang Daily. Today, Wang Hua, district mayor of Jing’an District, is the guest in our newsroom. Welcome! We will listen to people’s voices and solve the problems of people’s livelihood.
Wang Hua:
Hello, everyone. I am Wang Hua, district mayor of Jing’an District.
Host:
Mr. Wang, we have learned that residents’ complaints and suggestions received in last Summer Hotline were handled in a reasonable and timely manner.
Wang Hua:
Yes. Jing’an District keeps a close eye on the needs of the public and solves problems in a timely manner. Our Party members and officials are also required to respond quickly to the concerns of the residents, and all departments need to respond as soon as possible.
Host:
Is this a “secret” of Jing’an? Well, how does Jing’an District improve its soft power?
Wang Hua:
A city’s soft power is the regional core competitiveness. To enhance the soft power of Jing’an, we need to pay special attention to the perception and satisfaction of Jing’an people. For example, in terms of building the environmental quality of the urban area, we must build an urban area that makes people feel warmer.
Reporter:
Hello, Mr. Wang. I am Liu Ting, a reporter for Radio Shanghai. I learned that in the Sanquan Road near Gongkang Road, the junction of Baoshan District and Jing’an District, there are unqualified sidewalks for the blind, unstable floor tiles, the messy landscape in flower beds, etc.
Wang Hua:
OK. Let’s contact the relevant persons in charge of the Greening and City Appearance Administration of Jing’an District, the Construction Administration Committee, Pengpu Xincun Sub-district, and Shanghai Jing’an Urban Development (Group) Co., Ltd. to understand the existing problems and situation.
Host:
Why divide a sidewalk so clearly? Which department is responsible for administration?
Principal of relevant department:
The west side of the road from north to south belongs to Jing’an District. In 2017 and 2019, the road was updated with water pipes and electric wire tubes, respectively. In the two or three years after the update, the road surface sank due to natural subsidence or the downward pressure caused by the passing of residents and vehicles. In terms of maintenance, the common practice of Jing’an District is to do about 5–10 meters of cleaning on the road under the administration of Baoshan District. Shanghai Jing’an Urban Development (Group) Co., Ltd. is responsible for the daily cleaning for this section of the road. In response, we will further confirm the main responsible unit of cleaning with Pengpu Xincun Sub-district to strengthen long-term supervision and management.
Host:
Why is the sidewalk for the blind incomplete?
Principal of relevant department:
Pathway for the blind cannot be set up on roads below three meters. We will go to the site to verify the situation.
Wang Hua:
Regarding handling the problems of road appearance at the junction, first, we must clarify the responsibility of the cleaning unit and strengthen supervision over it; second, it is necessary to ensure daily cleaning and high-standard and high-requirement maintenance. As for the pathway for the blind, we should judge whether to set up a blind path according to the actual situation.
Principal of relevant department:
OK. We have learned that the sidewalk marble slabs to the north of Sanquan Road Bus Station were paved when choosing the plot supporting facilities, and the marble slabs here were in good condition when Sanquan Road was overhauled in 2018 so there was no plan to renovate it. During that overhaul, the sidewalk in the south was renovated, and a blind road was set up. In response to the needs of the public, the Municipal Support Center of Jing’an District has arranged maintenance units to renovate the marble of the sidewalk and add the blind path. The renovation project is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.
Principal of relevant department:
The routine cleaning of the sidewalk is the responsibility of Shanghai Jing’an Urban Development (Group) Co., Ltd. The road is in good condition, but there is a lot of garbage in the green space in the fence. The green space belongs to Baoshan District and is not the scope of management responsibility of our district. The staff of our district conducts about 5–10 meters of cleaning in Baoshan District to avoid the blind area of cleaning in the district boundary. As for the garbage in the green space in the fence, we have informed the greening management department of Baoshan District about strengthening the cleaning management in the green space. Meanwhile, we have added waste boxes next to the bus stations (within the scope of our district) for citizens waiting for the bus to throw their garbage.
Principal of relevant department:
We have contacted the responsible unit of greening and maintenance for the on-site connection. At present, the garbage in the green belt has been cleaned up, and a discovery contact mechanism has been established. In the future, if cleaning staff find similar situations, they can inform the maintenance unit in time through the relevant departments. In addition, we require subordinate sanitation companies to ensure road cleaning within the scope of responsibility in strict accordance with the requirements of doing complete cleaning. We will strengthen daily inspection to ensure a clean and tidy environment.
Host:
Nowadays, all kinds of “vegetable online buying” APPs have become a choice for residents, but for most residents, especially the elderly, picking and buying vegetables in the vegetable market is not only a rigid demand but also a joy of life. As the weather is getting hotter and hotter, people often drip sweat within a short time outdoor. Therefore, many residents will be upset if they have to travel a long way to buy vegetables.
Resident:
We moved to Yuexiu Mingdi Residential Estate at Alley 2199, Pingxingguan Road, in 2014. The community accommodates tens of thousands of residents but has no standardized vegetable market nearby. The nearest food market supplies food that is not fresh enough and complete enough, so we have to go to the vegetable market in the next district. In addition, there is no post office or bank nearby. It takes 20 minutes to go to the post office on Gonghexin Road.
Host:
Citizens would rather go to the vegetable market in the next district than go to the nearest market. Let’s contact the Commerce Commission of Jing’an District to find out the situation.
Principal of relevant department:
Near the gate of Yuexiu Mingdi Residential Estate at No. 1476, there is a vegetable shop in a supermarket of more than 200 square meters. The vegetables, bean products, fruits, grain, and oil there can basically meet the daily needs of the citizens, but the food is not fresh enough to satisfy residents. Besides, the community is close to the Hongkou District, where there is a large-scale vegetable market with a wide range of varieties. The vegetable market in Hongkou has formed a virtuous cycle — the more people buy, the fresher the vegetable, thus making it a priority for many citizens. To solve the problem, our Commerce Commission has arranged for the community to deliver vegetables and bean products, including those needed by residents, directly to the gates of the community. Considering the demand for retaining freshness and food safety in the recent hot weather, we suspend the community direct supply service, which will be continued in the future.
Host:
We have understood that many citizens have reported that the Service Center for the Elderly induces some complaints of the elderly residents.
Principal of relevant department:
When planning, we set aside more than a 1,000-square-meter area at the entrance of the community to meet the needs of the elderly in the community. Still, there were deficiencies in precise positioning and implementation. Only the first floor is used as a supermarket, and the second and third floors are used to provide services for the elderly.
Wang Hua:
The proportion of the elderly population in Jing’an exceeds 40%. There is a huge demand for offline shopping, especially for buying vegetables. The quality and varieties of vegetables must be valued. For such problems, we need to conduct an in-depth on-site investigation and survey, expand the area and improve the quality of the vegetable market. More importantly, we should manage to increase the stickiness of the vegetable market and the return rate of customers. As for how can the community’s offline direct supply service ensure food quality during transportation in hot weather, the Commerce Commission can take this as a topic to study. This year, Jing’an District People’s Government has also included setting up canteens for the elderly and increasing assistance services of meals and meal delivery for the elderly into the assessment scope of sub-districts and towns, and the proportions of their scores will be further improved. As for the post office and bank problem just mentioned, additional points will also be set up in the vicinity of them depending on the circumstances.
Principal of relevant department:
In the next step, the Commerce Commission of Jing’an District, alongside Shanghai Daning Asset Management (Group) Co. Ltd. (Daning Group), will guide the current supermarket owners to enhance their management levels, improve the shopping environment, increase product varieties supplied, and complete service items, thereby attracting more residents to consume. Meanwhile, we will enter communities regularly to learn about the needs of residents and expand the content of community-based direct-supply services as a way to achieve the provision of timed, on-demand services and thus further alleviate supply pressures. What’s more, we and Daning Group will actively look for online and offline cooperative channels and introduce competitive fresh food online retailers. By establishing preposition warehouses, DCs (distribution centers), and TCs (transfer centers), we will work to enhance market service and supply capacities and operational efficiency.
Resident:
Mr. Wang, I usually go to work by electric motorcycle, but our residential community has not installed charging piles. I used to charge my motorcycle with the domestic patch board. On May 1, Shanghai’s relevant department issued “the strictest non-motor vehicle management regulations in history.” So, upon realizing that my way of charging was dangerous, I removed the illegal power line used before. But now, I can only use the charging pile in the community where I work, which is very inconvenient. The residents in our community with the same need also hope to install charging piles.
Wang Hua:
So we should meet the charging need of residents like you near their homes to ensure that their everyday trips are easy and safe. The relevant department should further survey the community on the spot to work out the charging pile installation plan more suitable for it.
Host:
The “Beautiful Home” is not well managed. Can our home really become beautiful? Let’s see the problem raised by Mr. Xu from West Zhijiang Road Sub-district, Jing’an District.
Resident:
Last year, during the construction of the “Beautiful Home” project, our community built some flower beds with LED decorative lights along roads. The project was originally aimed to improve urban appearance. But as it was not well managed later, withered flowers and fallen leaves have piled, and weeds are overgrown in the flower beds; most of the lights have been broken, and their wires exposed are probably potential safety hazards. The problem has been repeatedly reported for nearly one year. Also, I have contacted the relevant department of the sub-district multiple times. But I got no response.
Principal of relevant department:
The area is now under the charge of the sub-district. The problem is true. The sub-district will promptly overhaul the decorative lights across the board to ensure that they are all in normal conditions. Regarding the greening maintenance problem, the flower beds will be uniformly replaced after high-temperature days and then handed over to the Greening and City Appearance Administration of Jing’an District for follow-up maintenance.
Wang Hua:
It is necessary to tighten supervision and increase regular inspection frequency. Also, we should urge the main bodies of construction to perform the relevant contracted responsibilities.
Principal of relevant department:
We will contact West Zhijiang Road Sub-district and coordinate relevant work to rectify the above situation soon. The Green Management Center of Jing’an District will provide guidance in the follow-up handover and rectification work, conduct the district-wide general survey of street construction and greenbelt maintenance in advance, and include the construction and maintenance in the district-wide unified management.
Principal of relevant department:
West Zhijiang Road Sub-district will do the following work: First, strengthening professional maintenance. For the greenbelts having not been handed over to the Greening Management Center of Jing’an District, we will actively coordinate work in cooperation with the center to strengthen the professional maintenance of newly planted greenbelts in the district. Second, tightening supervision and inspection. We will organize agent construction and supervision units to supervise and examine the conditions of lighting, greenbelt construction, and maintenance of construction projects — including the “Beautiful Block” project — in the district and require timely rectification of problems found. Third, implementing long-effect management. All the newly planted greenbelts in the district will be timely handed over to the center for management, and special persons will be arranged for their regular maintenance and management.
Host:
The opening hours of the library are too short. Where can my child do homework after school? Ms. Cheng said that the library of Jiangning Road Sub-district closes very early.
Resident:
The library of Jiangning Road Sub-district closes at 5 pm, an hour earlier than many sub-district libraries, failing to satisfy the needs of many children and students for reading and doing homework.
Principal of relevant department:
It closes at 5 pm for daily epidemic-prevention disinfection. We will adjust the time gradually in the future, with the needs of residents taken into consideration.
Wang Hua:
We will, under the premise of implementing epidemic prevention requirements, explore the feasibility of delaying disinfection through investigation and research to meet the reading needs of more residents, especially children.
Principal of relevant department:
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the library closed at 6 pm from Monday to Thursday and 8:30 pm on Friday and at weekends. But now, to thoroughly implement pandemic prevention and control work, the opening hours of the library of Jiangning Road Sub-district have been adjusted to be 8:30–11:30 am and 1:30–5:00 pm, and the number of people allowed to enter the reading room is limited to be within 85% of the number of the total that the room can accommodate. After 5 pm, public and library areas are disinfected. To better meet the reading needs of residents, the library has set up a 24-hour borrowing-returning machine at the gate whereby residents can borrow and return books 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, a WeChat group has been created, where residents are able to communicate with library staff so that the staff can find out the books that are needed by the residents in advance, and residents can then borrow these books more easily. Our next move is to carry out further investigation and research and solicit opinions from a broader range of residents. Then it will be considered whether the opening hours should be extended.
Host:
Ms. Zhang said that project site operations at night were disturbing. Let’s contact Ms. Zhang.
Resident:
The construction site of Shanghai Metro Line 14 on Yuyao Road and South Wuning Road keeps working 24 hours a day, disturbing nearby residents at night.
Wang Hua:
Although the construction site is where Entrance 3 of Line 14 — which is being constructed at a quickened speed — will be situated, and it holds the permit for night operations, the Construction Administration Committee should communicate with the construction unit, asking it to refine operation ways and minimize the impact of its operations on the lives of surrounding residents.
Principal of relevant department:
According to the situation learned on the spot, coupled with the operational realities of the construction unit at night, our law enforcement officers from the Bureau of Ecological Environment put forward the following suggestions to the construction unit from the perspective of noise prevention and control. First and foremost, the construction unit should reasonably arrange construction periods, streamline construction work, and shorten night construction time to decrease noise at night. In addition, the construction unit should be reminded of arranging special personnel to be responsible for the implementation of noise control measures, strengthening management, and avoiding noises from loading and unloading steel bars, drivers’ honking when vehicles go in and out, car backing radars, loudly talking, and so on during night operations. Furthermore, the construction unit should be required to enhance communication with neighborhood committees of surrounding residential areas, provide details of specific night construction days and periods, inform them of construction content in advance, and sufficiently explain work to residents. Last, it is suggested that the construction unit should further refine construction-site noise control measures and improvement plans on noise reduction measures in the next step. We will give guidance for the specific measures and cooperate with the supervisory authorities for further tracking.
Principal of relevant department:
Line 14 is a major municipal-level project, and it is now being built at an accelerated pace as scheduled. As its permit for night operations has been put on record online, its construction at night is legal. For the noise problem, the Construction Administration Committee will work closely with relevant departments to intensify door-to-door inspection, urge the construction unit to strengthen the management for civilized night construction, optimize construction plans, and avoid night construction as far as possible. With respect to the construction processes — such as the continuous pouring of mixed clay and outward transportation of old materials — that must be done at night in some cases, noise reduction measures should be taken to reduce their impacts on surrounding residents.
Wang Hua:
We must pay close attention to the urgent problems and concerns of the people in time, address these problems and concerns properly by taking into account people’s feelings, continuously elevate the quality of services for people’s well-being, and satisfy their needs with utmost effort.
Host:
Mr. Wang, thank you very much for coming to our newsroom today. That’s all for today. See you next time!