How can social forces be incorporated into governance of old residential communities?
如何凝聚老旧社区治理的社会力量？

Along with the rapid development of cities and continuous improvement to housing environment in urban China, many pressing issues have emerged out of the process of developing old residential communities. A particular issue is that some governing subjects such as social organizations, residents, and volunteers do not participate sufficiently in community governance. Comprehensive governance of old residential communities, therefore, has become a key challenge in urban governance. This case is derived from Yitian Compound of Shenzhen City in Guangdong Province. Established in 1996, it has become one of Shenzhen’s largest compounds that provide welfare-oriented public housing and economically affordable housing. The Compound has become an exemplar of incorporating social forces into community governance by establishing its “Dangqunfuwuzhongxin” – meaning “community service center co-run by the Party and the general public”.
随着我国城市的快速发展和居民居住环境的不断优化，老旧小区发展过程中的诸多矛盾日益显现，尤其是社会组织、小区居民和社会志愿者等主体的社区治理参与不足等问题突出。作为一项重要的民生问题，老旧小区综合治理成为城市管理的难点和重点。益田社区建置于1996年，是深圳市大型的福利房和微利房综合性小区之一。2014年，益田社区党群服务中心进驻益田社区，通过充分凝聚了社会力量参与社区治理，使公益精神深入人心，为老旧社区的治理提供了优良典范。

On the one hand, the center motivates residents to join Yitian Compound’s volunteer team to provide services to their own community. For example, the center has established a “Bank of Time” in which residents can deposit their community service time and convert such time into points. Then they can withdraw from the bank the services they need or exchange their points for gifts. On the other hand, the center organizes a variety of public benefit activities. For instance, it offers residents classes on subjects such as recitation, pottery, and calligraphy. It also organizes some after-school activities for primary school students and high school students who live at the Compound. These classes particularly address the challenge of after-school care faced by dual-income families. In addition, the center carries out a large-scale story-telling project through which people share their lived experiences of contributing to public benefit. In so doing, more residents have been motivated to engage actively in community services and community building.
一方面，中心引导社区居民加入益田社区义工队，为社区做志愿服务。通过建立“时间银行”，鼓励社区居民参与公益服务“储存”时间并兑换积分，居民可以使用积分“提取”公益社区服务或兑换礼品。另一方面，中心向社区居民提供多元化的便民服务。开展公益课程，包括朗诵、陶艺、书法等公益课堂和讲座等等，并通过建立考勤机制和奖惩制度，提高公益项目课程质量和公众参与率；建立四点半学校，整合公益资源，为社区周边的中小学生提供各类益智公益课程及活动，解决了双职工家庭儿童放学后的托管难题。除此之外，社区通过发起大型公益故事述说项目，积极传播公益精神。以公益人的对亲生经历的讲述带动更多的社区区民参与到社区公益服务和社区发展建设中，挖掘和凝聚更多公益能人。

Four lessons about effective governance of old residential communities can be learned from this case. First, guiding and encouraging residents to engage in volunteer services can activate their motivation to participate in community governance. Second, community governance can be improved by introducing public benefit resources from the society and the market to old residential communities. Third, a mode of community governance needs to be systematized so that community services can be provided in a sustainable manner. Fourth, community activities and services should be tailored to the needs of specific communities, which necessitates hearing from residents of their needs first.
益田社区的社会创新实验给当代老旧社区治理带来诸多启示。第一，通过引导、鼓励社区居民参与义工服务，激发当地居民参与社区治理的热情。第二，充分整合和利用社会公益资源，积极将社会和市场中的各类公益资源引入社区。第三，强化制度建设，制度的建立和完善是社区服务可持续供给的重要保障。第四，走进社区听“民音”，充分了解社区的需求和矛盾，基于民情“对症”开展社区活动和提供的社区服务。