On the afternoon of October 12, 2024, the "4th China Happy Community Model Award Ceremony and the 5th Happy Community Super Speaker Conference" was held at Conference Room 1, Hall 9, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center (Futian). A total of 107 projects and 26 individuals and teams from nearly 50 cities across China were awarded the 4th China Happy Community Model Award.
The event was organized by Housing and Real Estate magazine and received academic support from institutions such as the Institute of Governance for Global Megacities at Shenzhen University, along with several other universities and academic organizations. The event also received support from numerous property industry associations and homeowner organizations, with more than 300 attendees present at the ceremony.
New “Property Service Excellence Award” and Other New Awards Established
The award ceremony kicked off with the promotional video "Under the Sun", which highlighted vivid scenes of property services and community governance in dozens of cities across the country. The video vividly demonstrated the achievements of urban and community co-construction, co-governance, and shared benefits.
In his speech, Zhang Yan, Director of the Property Supervision Department of the Housing and Construction Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, emphasized that building a happy community requires not only a beautiful environment and harmonious neighborly relationships but also an efficient emergency service system. Property service companies should learn safety production laws and regulations, optimize emergency response mechanisms, build professional teams, and enhance residents' emergency awareness and self-rescue capabilities. He expressed his appreciation for the newly established "Property Service Excellence Award", noting that this new type of property service focuses on innovative service concepts and models, supported by technology and centered on humanistic care, to provide intelligent, convenient, and efficient services. He encouraged property service companies to increase investment in technology, improve their level of intelligence, strengthen cultural development, and foster a harmonious and civilized community atmosphere.
According to a report by Dute News, in order to ensure the professionalism, authority, and fairness of the evaluation process, the organizers established an independent expert review panel and a supervisory committee. The expert review panel includes professionals from institutions such as the Public Administration and Human Resources Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Institute of Governance for Global Megacities at Shenzhen University, as well as experts from domestic and international property management organizations. The supervisory committee is composed entirely of representatives from homeowners' organizations, experts in community governance, specialists in community management and services, as well as accountants, lawyers, and experts from research institutions.
The organizers also publicly disclosed the communities and individuals selected by the expert review panel through multimedia platforms. A "one-vote veto" system was implemented, meaning that any community that had experienced major security incidents, significant negative events, mass incidents, or responsibility-related accidents was disqualified.
Chen Wen, Professor from the School of Government, PhD Supervisor, and Executive Director of the Institute of Governance for Global Megacities at Shenzhen University, summarized the evaluation process as a representative of the independent expert review panel. He noted that communities form the foundation of urban and national governance and are the "last mile" for the party and government to connect with and serve residents. The China Happy Community Model Award has been successfully held for four years, becoming an important event in promoting the improvement of community management and service mechanisms, enhancing community public service capabilities, and advancing the modernization of community governance systems and governance capacity.
This evaluation is characterized by its broad coverage, active social participation, and strong innovation leadership. Several new awards were introduced, including the Property Service Excellence Award, Property Service Safety and Emergency Management Award, Community Service Trial/Innovation Award, and others. The most awarded category was the Grassroots Governance Innovation Award.
Looking at this year’s overall award-winning cases, most of them reflect new approaches and models in urban-rural community governance, which have significant leading implications in the field of community governance at the national level. These cases serve as exemplars in areas such as governance philosophy, mechanisms, methods, service approaches, and operational measures in community governance and service practices. They offer valuable experiences and benchmarks for addressing the challenges and difficulties in community governance and service, demonstrating strong potential for replication and wide applicability.
Building Shared Community Values
At the award ceremony, personnel from government agencies, property associations, homeowners' organizations, as well as representatives from the National People's Congress and scholars, jointly presented the "2024 4th China Happy Community Model Award", with a total of 133 awards given. These awards went to 107 projects and 26 individuals and teams from nearly 50 cities nationwide, all of which passed the expert review and subsequent public announcement process.
The winning communities and projects are from cities including Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Guiyang, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Chongqing, Changsha, Harbin, Jinan, Wuxi, and others. These projects include submissions from local neighborhood offices, community workstations, homeowners' committees, property service companies, and real estate enterprises. Most of the awarded communities and projects are exemplary ones in their respective local areas.
One of the winners of the "Special Contribution Award" is Zhou Zhongyu, the head of the homeowners' committee at the Roman Style Community of the College Society in Gaoqiao Town, Haishu District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Zhou shared with Dute News that in his six years as the head of the homeowners' committee, he utilized his over 20 years of business experience to successfully resolve lingering property contract disputes, turning the community’s public funds account from negative to positive. From initially "feeling his way forward", he developed a community work model in cooperation with the government, property management, and homeowners, creating a mutually beneficial and collaborative approach to community development. The community he leads also received the "Multi-Party Governance Model Award".
The Jindi Division of the Emergency Response Team from Futian District, Shenzhen, was one of the winners of the "Youth Pioneer Award". Team leader Tang Zhencai told Dute News that since the team was established in 2007, he has been serving in this role for nearly 17 years, assisting with firefighting, safety, emergency rescue, and other tasks in the district. Winning this honor is a great affirmation and motivation for him, and he will continue leading the team to safeguard the safety and happiness of the community through action.
In addition, the 5th Super Speaker Conference was held concurrently, where four super speakers from the property industry shared their perspectives on the philosophy, emotions, and ideals of building a happy community. Their speeches resonated deeply with the audience and sparked thoughtful reflections. The "2024 Property Service Company Ranking" was also released during the event, jointly compiled by Housing and Real Estate magazine and the China Property Management Think Tank.
Editor | Xiao Yao
