Luohu District is pressing ahead with shanty urban area renovation projects while continuing to improve grassroots governance and public services.

With these efforts, Luohu is working towards becoming a comprehensive hub of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Over the past five years, the district has obtained 51.3 hectares of land from the renovation project, and in the subsequent five to 10 years, Luohu plans to release another 180.47 hectares of land for industrial purposes.

Meanwhile, construction teams began demolishing the Qingshuihe zone in April, making room for an updated zone which is expected to drive growth in the district.

Other key areas undergoing renovation include Dongmen pedestrian street, Hubei, Caiwuwei, Shenzhen Railway Station and Luohu Port.

According to the plan, the phase one of the Dongmen pedestrian street renovation project will take about 29 months to complete, at a total cost of around 540 million yuan ($83 million).

Zhang Feimeng, chief of the Shenzhen Commerce Bureau, said that the Dongmen pedestrian street will be transformed into a modern lifestyle center popular with younger consumers, with its dignature historical charm perserved.

Consumption is a major pillar of Luohu’s economy, along with its thriving financial and commercial industries.

In the first half of this year, Luohu’s GDP exceeded the city’s average, hitting 126.82 billion yuan, up 10.3% year-on-year. The district’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 69.07 billion yuan, an increase of 36.1% compared with the same period last year, ranking it second among Shenzhen’s 11 districts.

However, it’s been effective governance, particularly at the grassroots level, that has helped transform economic prosperity into tangible benefits for the people.

The Yucun community of Luohu is just one example of how Luohu embraces grassroots branches of the Communist Party of China, which in turn produces a more holistic model of governance at the local level.

In Yucun, the local Party organization is able to work closely with committees representing property owners and property management enterprises to efficiently manage the affairs of residents.

Moreover, Luohu actively applies big data, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to provide highly customized and targeted public services that meet the people’s various needs.

The tech-based services have been offered in five fields of civil affairs, public health, education, human resources and the disabled community, benefitting nearly 500,000 person-time.

A big-data platform has also been connected with databases spanning 38 government departments at the city and district levels, culminating in an exhaustive information hub that serves both the government and the people.

The public services, which range from medical care to education, guarantee a more equitable society for Luohu’s citizens.

Since Luohu implemented medical care reforms in 2015, seeking clinical services in the district has become significantly more convenient, and the public hospital system has operated more smoothly.

Community rehabilitation centers are now capable of handling 49.25% of total patient visits in the district, relieving the burdens on larger public hospitals.

Additionally, Luohu is investing heavily in other infrastructure projects such as new schools and government-subsidized housing.

Luohu Party chief Luo Yude said that Luohu is confident that its pursuit of high-quality development, coupled with reform and opening-up, will sustain the district’s increasing vitality and its role as a trailblazer in the development of not just the city, but the country at large.