Recently, there has appeared a delightful "little garden" in front of Gate 336, Changchun Apartment with a 100-year-long history. The "little garden" has cobblestone path, red plastic footpath, antiseptic wood rest platform and bronze iron fence.
In
the space of over 800 square meters originally, green plants were in disorder,
fence was mottled and rusty and clothesline were hung like spider webs. Today's
new appearance benefits from the "Micro Renewal" project carried out
in the old community of
The "Micro Renewal" Bringing A New Look
Along North Sichuan Road, there located many historical residential areas and old-fashioned lanes, many of which faced the unique conditions of urban operation and environmental management, including the lack of property management, numerous primary and secondary trunk roads and back alleys, corridor management problems caused by the inherent deficiencies of old houses, and the residential areas adjacent to catering and retail businesses along the street.
Built in 1928, Changchun Apartment also had related problems. As a historical residential area, the space in front of Gates 336 and 348 of Changchun Apartment was becoming dirtier and more disordered due to the lack of effective management. There was no house owners' committee and property management was absent. How to solve the residents' demands?
In recent years, North Sichuan Road Sub-district launched the "Micro Renewal" project concern the "dilemma" of the old residential areas, and focused on the quality improvement and function shaping of scattered plots, idle plots and micro and small space, so as to improve the environment of old residential areas.
The area in front of Gates 336 and 348 of Changchun Apartment was included in the "Micro Renewal" project by the sub-district. Since April this year, the sub-district, together with the general Party branch of the residential area, has consulted the residents in the building by means of centralized exchange and separate visits, and invited professional design units to carry out scientific and reasonable design of the space according to the opinions and suggestions of residents. In order to let the residents have intuitive feelings, they also specially made the scene effect pictures after the transformation. After that, a hearing was held again to solicit the residents' opinions and suggestions on the transformation plan. Some residents' representatives had different opinions on the benches in the leisure area near the road, and put forward the proposal that in order to prevent people from sleeping on the chair, the bench should be separated into single seats with grids. This proposal was adopted and finally implemented. In the process of reconstruction, the originally designed arched clothes hanger was adjusted to the traditional cross bar type. "The construction team pre-installed an arched clothes hanger. When residents actually used it, they found that the amount of air drying was much less than that of the horizontal bar type," said Hu Genmei, chief of the general Party branch of the Yuqingfang Residential Area, where Changchun Apartment was located.
Today, this renovated space has become the little park at the door. In order to maintain it, the residents spontaneously set up the Changchun Apartment Historical Building Autonomous Management Team. Every day, the Team will clean the little park, or clean the road surface or trim the greening. Resident Yu Yinglong has lived in Changchun Apartment since 1978. As a member of the Team, he says: "After decades of changes, I can't imagine that there is a little garden at the door of our home. Besides Changchun Apartment, Changchun Road in front of the door is becoming cleaner and tidier, and the appearance of the whole North Sichuan Road Sub-district has also been improved."
Continuously Optimizing the Working Mechanism
Mr. Li, who lived in the Hailun residential area, had the same feeling with Yu Yinglong. He lived at Lane 201, Hailun residential area, which had been in disrepair for a long time. Some of the bricks laid on the ground were damaged, and some were displaced, resulting in uneven main roads in the lane, and bicycles, electric vehicles, cars and other vehicles were parked at will in the lane. After the "Micro Renewal", the gate post was set up in Lane 201, the Duolun residential area, the main road was covered by flat asphalt pavement, and the wall of residential building was painted anew.
The change was beyond that. In Lane 201, there was a memorial hall of the Left Wing League. In the "Micro Renewal", the sub-district had spent a lot of effort in the cultural atmosphere. The entrance billboard, sculpture photo wall, the Left Wing Culture Wall, the Jingyunli Landscape Wall and other contents had been updated and arranged, echoing the name of Duolun Road Cultural Celebrity Street and strengthening the cultural heritage of the community.
"In fact, the 'Micro Renewal' is not simply a renovation, but also a historical and cultural heritage. Therefore, we employ community planners to design and update every project through professional design forces", said an official of North Sichuan Road Sub-district. He also introduced that in recent years, the sub-district had been committed to carrying out the "Micro Renewal" project in the communities. By adhering to the Party building to lead the community governance, the leadership of the Party organization in the residential area and the organizational power of the neighborhood committee are further improved. In conjunction with the community management office, the community development office and other relevant departments, the sub-district employs community planners to build a project of improving quality life for residents.
Up to now, nearly 20 areas within the jurisdiction of Sichuan North Road Sub-district, such as Duolun Community, Yongde Community, Changchun Apartment, "Dongzhaoxiaoting" and Wujin Road Block, have been renovated through the "Micro Renewal".