Residents of Shanghai Kangcheng community attend a tug-of-war event organized by the neighborhood in July 2023. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Another reason for the changes was that Zhang and her team tried to mobilize as many residents as possible to participate in various aspects of neighborhood governance, which is to put the concept of building urban governance community at the grassroots level, she said.

"Community governance not only depends on the Party organization and residents who are Party members. We should invite more residents to join in. The more they participate, the more they will feel this is relevant to themselves," said Zhang, adding that daily situations, like differing opinions among neighbors regarding pet ownership, necessitate collective wisdom from more residents to devise improved solutions.

In 2023, 108 middle-aged and young residents from diverse professional fields, including property management, construction and engineering project management, finance, and law, became the first batch of "partners to build a better community" at the residential compound. By integrating their expertise and good ideas for neighborhood development, the quality of residents' lives kept escalating, said Zhang.

For example, in addition to the initial two bus routes linking the neighborhood to a nearby metro station, a new bus route has been introduced to connect Kangcheng to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. This improvement offers residents convenient transportation choices.

The concept of a "15-minute living circle" that meets residents' basic needs for shopping and leisure was proposed in Shanghai in 2014. In the Kangcheng neighborhood, residents could also feel that life is becoming increasingly easier, so their living circle has been constantly expanded.

Currently, the residential compound includes two kindergartens, a nine-year school planned from the beginning, and a nursing home for the elderly. The health center has also been expanded to a 2,000-square-meter community health service center.

"In this way, the facility not only meets our needs to replenish medications regularly, but also is equipped with departments of general medicine, dentistry, and traditional Chinese medicine. They are widely welcomed by residents," said Zheng Junwei, a 71-year-old resident in the neighborhood.

Furthermore, the number of grocery stores, food markets, barber shops, and bank outlets within the residential compound has been growing, enhancing the convenience of residents' daily lives, he said.

Zhang emphasized that her primary focus in the upcoming year will be implementing additional measures to alleviate residents' parking challenges and promoting service to meet the personalized needs of elderly care.

"For a resident, if he or she drives home after work and fails to find a parking space, this may harm their sense of belonging to the community," Zhang said.

"However, if we want to adjust the spatial layout of some parts of the compound to free up parking spaces, we need all the residents to find an optimal solution based on the mentality of seeking common ground and working toward a shared better life. This is a great test for us to build an exchange platform and find a good way for negotiations."

Regarding elderly care, Zhang noted a growing awareness of the diverse needs of senior residents, including requirements for rehabilitation, physiotherapy, in-home night care, hospital escort services, and healthcare utilizing TCM practices. "Some also proposed needs for consultation regarding planning after retirement, and some others were interested in holding a birthday party while gathering their elderly friends together," she said.

Zhang said she would work with relevant government departments to promote work in this area. Residents may be provided with a name list of professional institutions and caregivers endorsed and supervised by the government to provide corresponding services based on personalized needs.