Social workers, scholars and students all shared their experiences and ideas in a workshop on governance of residential communities, held at the Social Organization Service Center in Shuangzha Sub-district, Nanjing City on November 17.
Bai Youtao, head of the Modern Community Research Institute in Jianye District, said the development trend is to allow residents in a community to have easy access to infrastructure and public services such as library and stadium. Depending on the demographic composition, some will also find it necessary to make a community more friendly to foreigners.
As Nanjing is becoming a global city, there are more and more foreigners living in the city, so local authorities have piloted programs in areas with a large concentration of foreigners. Some foreign volunteers are already involved in programs of improving community governance.
Thoko from Malawi, a student of social work at Nanjing Normal University, has taken internship in Cibeishe international community, located in Gulou District, for two years. She learned about efforts at the grassroots level and also helped youths in the community to learn English, such as reading bilingual picture books.
Li Xuebin, an associate professor at the Department of Sociology at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, believes that equal residential services should be provided to foreigners and ‘international community’ initiatives should also provide opportunities for social organizations. In this process, social workers can become more aware of cultural diversities, feel confident of local culture, and get more prepared to promote Chinese culture and urban development achievements.
Qing Ao Community, a legacy of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, is the first in Nanjing to pilot the international community program. The community is home to 160 foreign residents, accounting for about 10 percent of the total residents, according to Sun Lianjuan, deputy secretary of the Shuangzha Sub-district Party Working Committee.
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