As I repeatedly visited the sites of the 'Three Reforms and Four Modernizations' urban construction in Changde City, Hunan Province, and listened to local officials and media repeatedly talk about the hardships of the second half of last year, it was a battle, and even more a tribulation; the taste of it is something everyone can savor.

The so-called 'Three Reforms and Four Modernizations' project: 'Three Reforms' refers to road reform, water reform, and shantytown reform; 'Four Modernizations' refers to beautification, lighting, greening, and digitalization. This is an idealized blueprint, drawn with astonishing and bold strokes. It was destined from the start that the road would not be smooth.

Acting immediately upon decisions, the blueprint is no longer on paper

According to reports, starting from the second half of last year, the project was fully launched. Overnight, the entire city turned into a huge construction site. In less than half a year, a total of 207 main and secondary roads and small streets and alleys were renovated, totaling 156 kilometers, and 541 kilometers of various pipelines for drainage, water supply, gas, and sewage were renovated and reconstructed.

Such a massive project naturally brought great inconvenience to the work and life of the city's residents, especially as traffic capacity suddenly dropped by nearly 60%. For a time, criticism erupted both online and offline. Facing this situation, the government actively responded and took relevant measures, ultimately completing the project before the end of the year, which won the appreciation of the general public. The city seemed to have moved to a new home.

A leader told me that for many years, their city had been planning—planning how big and how good it could be—but had never implemented it. In just half a year last year, they accomplished work that would have taken years or even a decade. It was truly remarkable.

Building a conscience project, heavy rain no longer causes the urban area to become a vast sea

Although the 'Three Reforms and Four Modernizations' is also a urban construction project, the government focused on livelihood projects, with the key being to solve issues of concern to the people. For example, in the road reform, the focus was on renovating underground pipelines—what people often call the city's 'conscience project'—rather than merely focusing on appearances; the inside is more important.

In July this year, Changde City was hit by heavy rain, and the Yuan River experienced an extraordinarily large flood, with some towns along the way being inundated. While other cities' urban areas turned into vast seas due to the heavy rain, Changde City, thanks to the road reform, did not experience a single waterlogging spot, truly standing the test. There was also the renovation of the urban water system, which is about restoring the ecological environment.

Even more surprising is that this not particularly developed inland city has taken the lead in starting smart city construction: cloud computing centers, grid-based social governance, smart transportation, and so on, are realizing smart living.

Only by listening to criticism can one hear applause

What made the locals even more reflective is that in this magnificent renovation project, they truly learned how to communicate and interact with the people.

After the project was fully advanced last year, pressure from various public opinions was overwhelming. Especially since the central government launched the mass line education and practice activities, discussions and criticism on this matter increased. Facing this situation, local government departments took the initiative, actively holding various symposiums and press conferences, visiting the masses, listening to opinions and suggestions, and responding to their calls. At the end of last year, the mayor personally held discussions with many local netizens to listen to their opinions; his sincerity was evident.

At the end of July this year, the Publicity Department of the Changde Municipal Party Committee organized a local 'Famous Netizens Visit Changde' event, inviting nearly 30 local famous netizens to see the changes on the ground, look at the future, offer suggestions, and comment on Changde.

This summer, the provincial new urbanization conference was held in Changde City. The provincial party secretary and governor attended the meeting and delivered speeches, fully affirming Changde's new urbanization construction. And today, on the faces of Changde people, there is an indescribable confidence and pride—this is their city, a beautiful, brand-new city.

That day, I got into a taxi and asked about the 'Three Reforms and Four Modernizations.' The driver said, 'The second half of last year was really frustrating—the roads were impassable, construction sites everywhere. But in just half a year, it has changed dramatically. Many of the old traffic bottlenecks have been completely eliminated, the roads are much smoother, and people feel much better.'

Today, facing the increasingly tight situation of anti-corruption and reform, some local officials have begun to show passivity and neglect of duty. Some are unwilling to work, dare not take action, fearing problems and trouble, especially with large-scale construction like this.

However, from Changde's practice, as long as your project is centered on people's livelihood and the masses, as long as you actively involve the people and let them speak, as long as you are selfless and dare to take responsibility, there is nothing you cannot do and no obstacle you cannot overcome.

One department leader put it well: 'The criticism from the masses is a powerful driving force; it actually reflects trust in the government and concern for the city. The criticism from the masses is an invisible pressure that can pressure the progress and quality of project construction, leaving no room for slacking. The criticism from the masses is also an infinite wisdom; those criticisms contain too many good ideas and suggestions.' For example, the design of local bus stops, which incorporates many local cultural elements, came from citizens' suggestions.

The city is not the government's city, but the city of the general public. The city is not only built by the government, but must be built together by the general public.

That day, while chatting with several migrant workers at the construction site of the marathon track around Liuye Lake, they said about the future Liuye Lake: the dream of hosting a worldwide marathon around Liuye Lake has been envisioned for many years, and they believe that time is not far off.