Life put to rights in the living room
Print Edition
A square table and three or four benches turn the living room of a local resident’s home into an assembly hall.
The “Living Room Assembly” program in Xuhang Town has been included in the Shanghai’s top 10 innovative social projects.
Xuhang launched the program in 2012 and since then locals have gathered to discuss community affairs at respected figures’ homes rather than public venues.
At Qianqiao Village, the front gate of Zhang Jinlong’s home is always open.
Zhang’s living room was among the first in Xuhang to host an assembly dealing with community affairs.
Neighbors meet each other at Zhang’s living room for small talk and discussions about how to improve their daily lives.
Zhang writes down villagers’ proposals, such as building a playground, installing a bus stop … and passes them on the relevant department. A line of street lamps, a bus stop, a new road, a piece of greenery and a playground were built after consensus reached in Zhang’s living room.
Village officials and their local authority peers are frequent visitors to living room assemblies.
“I received 69 opinions during my first visit,” said one village official in Xuhang.
“After that I visited the assembly much more often but with fewer opinions received, instead, there was more friendly advice on each occasion,” he added.
Xuhang has had 34 living room assemblies. The township authority also set up six branches, each in contact with up to half a dozen assemblies.
More than 700 actions have been discussed over the past five years with more than 500 opinions collected and over 90 percent resolved.
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