Shanghai Expo experiences inspire hope for more responsive government
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Wu Jiangmin visited the Shanghai World Exposition in early August. There, while queuing outside the Japan pavilion, she saw rubbish strewn all over the ground and not a rubbish bin in sight.
After returning home, she made a suggestion through the official Expo website: "Why don't you put some rubbish bins where people queue to enter the Japan pavilion?"
Not long after that, she received a call from an Expo manager who discussed the issue with her. The manager promised to remedy the situation as soon as possible.
Actually, several other visitors had also made similar suggestions to Expo organizers.
Visitors now find garbage bags near the Japan pavilion queuing area every five to 10 meters, and sanitation at the Expo overall has also improved considerably.
At the beginning of the Expo, which opened on May 1, just 200,000 visitors caused headaches for the organizers. But last weekend, they successfully dealt a record one million visitors.
With more umbrellas, fences, fans, signs, and wheelchairs, facilities and service at the Expo park have greatly improved, as the Expo's conclusion draws closer.
"All the changes were made in accordance with visitors' complaints and suggestions," said Qian Bojin, director of the Expo visitors' service center.
The center developed an online system to deal with all the complaints and suggestions, collecting them through an official website, "Expo Hotline," and suggestion boxes at information booths around the site, Qian said.
Wang Shuzhi, a staffer at the visitors' service center, said the complaints and suggestions the center receives are generally solved within 48 hours.
"Responses to complaints are delivered to people who filed them according to our rules," Wang said.
Mei Haixing, 59, told a service center in August he would like to do some cleaning work while he waited in the long queues to enter pavilions.
The idea inspired organizers, who then decided to set up some places for visitors to volunteer.
The idea was first tested at the SAIC-GM Pavilion and later at the China National Pavilion.
From Oct. 2, some 60 visitors served as volunteers, helping people queue and distributing Expo site maps.
Qian Bojin said it's impossible for organizers to think of everything and so listening to visitors' ideas is important.
Wang Yukai, professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said communication between organizers and visitors at the Expo is a model for citizens taking part in public governance.
"Governments should learn from the experience of the Expo. They should take advice from citizens and make proper adjustments," Wang said.
Wu Jiangmin, 38, said she found the complaint section on the Expo website when doing some online search. She made a suggestion because she felt obligated as a resident of the host city. But she had never made suggestions to government departments before.
"It's not convenient to file a complaint about the government compared to the Expo," she said, adding that if there were proper channels, she would make suggestions and complaints to government departments.
Wang Yukai said citizens want to both take part in government processes and evaluate government service.
"A system should be established to allow citizens to take part in government," he said.
Qian Bojin said now complaints at the Expo about staff attitude has come to an end after organizers strengthened monitoring to ensure high-quality service.
He said it will take time to apply the experience of the World Expo to governance.
"The system can be established gradually. Initially, big events and construction projects are a good opportunity to invite the public to take part in processes of governance."
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