Chengguan a must for cities

With the complaints from street vendors and the public against urban administrative and law enforcement bureau officials (or chengguan) increasing by day, some people have suggested that the bureau be closed down. But stopping the deployment of chengguan will not solve all the problems, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

In most Chinese cities, chengguan perform many functions, including maintaining a city's image and environmental health, taking action against illegal buildings and pulling up unlicensed vendors. Ten years ago, when chengguan had not been deployed in cities, urban management faced a lot of problems.

There is no doubt that the introduction of chengguan has made urban management more efficient and solved many a problem.

It is not surprising to know that street vendors, who have been at the receiving end of urban management rules, detest chengguan. But it is surprising to see the public, which has benefited from urban management regulations, to oppose chengguan.

Perhaps this is the result of the violent and at times brutal law enforcement methods of chengguan and people's sympathy with the underprivileged group of vendors.

Let us accept the fact that a city cannot be properly managed without chengguan. But we have to decide what kind of chengguan a city needs. It will help if chengguan are more human in how they deal with street vendors.