The century-old alleyways along Yuyuan Road, once a troublesome governance challenge in urban renewal, are now quietly transforming. Behind this tangible improvement in livability is the "Four Establishments, Four Breaks" contiguous management method developed by Jiangsu Road Subdistrict, which consolidates scattered alleys into a cohesive force for refined governance.
Early morning, 75-year-old Granny Zhang walks into Lane 749 on Yuyuan Road with her shopping basket. The asphalt road beneath her feet is smooth and dry, no garbage piles in the corners, and previously haphazardly parked electric scooters are now neatly lined within white markings. She smiles at her neighbors, saying, "It's much more comfortable living here now compared to before." This once unmanaged alley now benefits from professional property management services.
To address the challenges of intertwined alleyways, scattered small buildings, and a long-term absence of property management, Jiangsu Road Subdistrict innovatively developed the "Four Establishments, Four Breaks" contiguous management method. This approach builds a collaborative property management system through party leadership, service priority, diversified co-governance, and digital empowerment, breaking governance deadlocks, resident resistance, service boundaries, and management bottlenecks. It transforms alleys from chaotic neglect to refined, effective governance.
The alleys in Jiangsu Road Subdistrict represent the city's soft texture but faced governance issues: complex property ownership, small residential clusters, difficulties in forming homeowner committees, and fragmented, uncoordinated management efforts. The question of "who will manage" loomed large. The subdistrict's answer was to strengthen the party organization network. Led by the subdistrict party committee, state-owned property resources were introduced to manage three alleys along Yuyuan Road. The neighborhood party organizations established a three-tier self-governance structure of "Lane Governance Committee, Lane Management Group, and Lane Chief," embedding party organizations within the alleys and party members within the grid. During the process, the subdistrict solicited resident opinions, guided resident oversight, and mobilized broader participation, enhancing the synergy among the "three carriages" of neighborhood committees, homeowner committees, and property companies. This built a "3+N" governance model involving party organizations, property managers, residents, and other social entities. From fragmented governance to collaborative co-governance, party leadership acts as a red thread, connecting governance nodes and reshaping the management landscape of these historic alleys.
The hardest part of introducing property management into alleys is not the physical threshold but the psychological one. Long-time residents, accustomed to a "courtyard" lifestyle, naturally resist the idea of paying for services. The subdistrict prioritized service quality over price increases, using genuine service to win trust. When Lane 1210, Section 54 and 56, was brought under the contiguous management of Xinhua Property, a resident's home suddenly leaked. The property management not only responded immediately but also scheduled repairs at the resident's convenience. Such thoughtful measures gradually eased residents' concerns about the "value for money" of property services. The original property fee of 0.18 yuan per square meter was gradually adjusted to a level both residents and the property company could accept, with residents willingly embracing the increase because visible services provided tangible peace of mind.
The subdistrict precisely matched resource lists with resident needs, assembling a comprehensive governance "toolbox" covering all scenarios. This includes a "Property Management Guidebook" with policy and legal support, active "whistle-blowing" for difficult issues requiring higher-level policy backing, and the establishment of hierarchical self-governance charters at the residential, subdistrict, and building levels. This toolbox provides solid support for contiguous management, making residents feel that professional management is about service, not just collecting fees.
The difficulty in managing old alleys lies in their small size and fragmentation: a few dozen households per lane, low property fee collection rates, and high management costs, deterring professional property companies and overburdening resident self-governance. The subdistrict's solution was to break down walls and implement contiguous management. Lane 749 and seven adjacent alleys are separated by a wall from the Jiachun Industrial Park. The Dongbang Neighborhood Party Committee leveraged its geographical advantage and long-standing partnership to have the park's property management "cross the border" to manage the old alleys. By breaking boundaries, residents now enjoy professional services and access to the park's landscapes and facilities, rejuvenating the century-old alley. Similarly, Lane 405, Section 8-12, on Zhenning Road, a small, isolated area long in a management vacuum, now shares the state-owned property resources of a neighboring mature residential complex, turning "unmanaged" into "professionally managed." By breaking physical and industry barriers, Jiangsu Road Subdistrict uses "contiguous management" as a key to open doors to shared governance, allowing quality services to flow across different residential clusters.
Old alley governance cannot rely solely on manpower; it needs technological support. Lane 1376 and three adjacent open alleys on Yuyuan Road long suffered from security issues, vehicle parking problems, and illegal garbage dumping. The subdistrict seized the opportunity of contiguous management to partner with local tech company Changguang Yili to deploy an AI-powered visual recognition smart monitoring system. This system offers 24/7 automatic capture, non-intrusive evidence collection, and real-time alerts. Behaviors like illegal parking and dumping are instantly detected, reported, and processed. "Previously, patrolling took half an hour on foot; now, the cameras 'blink' and the situation is flagged on the platform," a property staff member noted. Digital empowerment enables precise monitoring and rapid response, making the century-old alleys orderly and clean, greatly improving governance efficiency. The shift from "governance" to "wisdom" changes methods and boosts effectiveness. Technology overcomes the challenges of "unable to watch, incomplete control, and slow response" in old neighborhoods, adding wings of intelligence to contiguous management.
As century-old buildings meet modern governance, Jiangsu Road Subdistrict continues to deepen the "Four Establishments, Four Breaks" method. It aims to shift governance from "dispersed" to "consolidated," perspectives from "partial" to "comprehensive," and logic from "control" to "co-creation," creating a replicable paradigm for old alleyways. This approach allows residents to encounter a better life within the depths of these historic lanes.