Chinese Urban Construction and Management Legal Practice

Author: Wang Cailiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Addressing the various contradictions in current urban construction in China, the author combines their experience in handling numerous urban mass incidents and conducts seven years of research. From the perspectives of the head, driving force, and focal points of urban construction and management, they deeply analyze six critical issues urgently needing regulation: planning, fiscal funds, urban management enforcement, transportation and environmental protection, public welfare, and crisis response, while proposing constructive countermeasures and suggestions.
When the Communist Party of China seized power, it followed the path of encircling the city from the countryside, with its focus on rural areas. Until the eve of national victory, the Party Central Committee held the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee in Xibaipo, marking a historic turning point by shifting the focus to urban areas. During this period, there were countless successful explorations, but also unforgettable mistakes. In the new century, how to achieve the transformation of the Party from a revolutionary party to a governing party and improve its governance capabilities has become a matter of life and death for the Party. Governance requires advancing the rule of law and democracy, which is a completely new topic. What about the revolution under the backdrop of class struggle? The essential definition remains what Comrade Mao Zedong proposed in the early days of the Party's founding: "Revolution is a violent uprising, a violent act of one class overthrowing another." This revolution was a historical choice. Without it, China would still be a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, still under the oppression of the three great mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. We cannot forget or deny this history.
The issue now is that 56 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the transformation of roles within the governing Party, academia, and various levels of power authorities has not been completed. In the fields of urban construction and management, two erroneous tendencies are interfering with the formulation and implementation of the Party's correct line, policies, and principles. In our Party, some comrades still tend to use the "shouting from the rooftops" movement-style methods to build and manage cities, blindly pursuing speed and grandeur, clamoring for garden cities, setting up development zones, and, disregarding laws, discipline, and science in the process. The result is a severe disconnect from reality. These comrades intended to do good for the people, but failed to act within their means, turning performance projects into failures and harming the interests of the people, leading to opposition from the masses.
Secondly, on the flip side of blind recklessness, within our Party and government, some individuals have fallen prey to the "candy-coated bullets" spoken of by Comrade Mao Zedong 55 years ago. Some have been exposed and brought to trial, while others still occupy various governing positions, using power for personal gain and engaging in power-money transactions. In their eyes and hearts, there is no concept of serving the people in governance, nor the Party's principle of wholeheartedly serving the people. For personal gain, they can operate cities, wield power, and exploit or even destroy all urban resources. Every true Communist must recognize the harmfulness of these two erroneous tendencies.
Fortunately, the highest leadership of the Communist Party of China has also recognized this issue, and the question of governance capabilities has been placed on the agenda. Establishing a scientific development concept and governing for the people has become the Party's guiding principle and policy. Inspired by the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I have systematized and compiled my recent research on the law and practice of urban construction and management into this book, offering it to the, the numerous urban government officials, and legal workers, as a stone to stir the jade.
Since I conducted my research on urban construction and management starting from the focal point of housing demolition, there are certain limitations to my approach. Coupled with the limitations of my theoretical level and time constraints, any errors or one-sidedness in this book are kindly forgiven by the readers. However, I sincerely hope that between the lines of this book, readers can feel the love for the motherland of a descendant of the Yellow River and Yangtze, the pursuit of the ideal of communism by a Communist Party member, and the longing for socialist rule of law by a lawyer. May my heart always resonate with that of the readers!