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From community renewal to sustainable transit: two Latin American scholars draw on the people-centered planning embedded in China’s urban development_我的网站
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Editor's Note:
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pointed out, "to understand China today, one must learn to understand the Communist Party of China (CPC)." With the rapid development of China's economy and society, and the steady advancement of the Chinese path to modernization, the notable achievements of the CPC have drawn extensive international attention and scholarly interest. Against this backdrop, the Global Times has launched the "CPC in Global Eyes" column, focusing on the feelings, perspectives and insights of international friends from various fields regarding the CPC's historical path and achievements.
They include those who have toured China, who deeply study the CPC in academic fields, who work, live, study, seek employment or do business in various fields in China, and who pay close attention to the CPC's policies and trends, although they haven't visited the country in person. Through their vivid personal experiences, we aim to present a multifaceted overseas view of the CPC.
In the 16th installment of this series, we followed two Latin American scholars as they toured Chinese cities, witnessing how the CPC's people-centered, long-term development vision is translated into tangible everyday improvements - and reflecting on what China's experience might offer for state capacity building in Latin America.
Standing before the glass at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Ecuadorian scholar María Imelda Robalino gently traced the edge of the giant city model with her fingertips, her eyes reflecting the orderly contours of this megacity stretching toward the horizon. The clear lines linking green spaces along the city's iconic Huangpu River, dense residential neighborhoods and industrial parks drew the public administration scholar, who has long studied urban expansion in Latin America, into deep thought.
Beside her, Mariana Escalante, a Mexican scholar in China studies, gazed at the scrolling timeline of Shanghai's long-term urban plans on a screen and expressed her admiration for the CPC and the Chinese government's all-out efforts in development and construction. "It's very impressive that they're taking care of all the factors that influence Chinese people, not just development and the economy, but also the environment and the well-being of the people," she told the Global Times at the exhibition center.
In June, a delegation of more than 20 think tank scholars from about 15 Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador, started their tour in China. Over the course of more than 10 days, they visited cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, and went into urban planning exhibition centers, residential communities, Party schools, eco-friendly power plants and university think tanks. Robalino and Escalante were among them. Like many others in the group, they came with a shared purpose: to see for themselves what Chinese modernization under CPC leadership actually looks like.
"I always emphasize the importance of seeing and experiencing China with my own eyes, in addition to learning about it through documents, academic research or news reports," Escalante told the Global Times.
From plans to everyday life
For Escalante, this trip to China was far from her first encounter with the country.
A professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and founder of Mexican Association of Sinology, she has visited China many times before - yet each journey still brings fresh discoveries. "China is a country that changes at an impressive speed, so I try to visit as often as possible," she told the Global Times. "Every trip allows me to observe new processes, and compare what I study in texts with how policies are implemented."
Robalino approached her China visit with a broader set of expectations. Her institution, Ecuador's National Institute of Advanced Studies, has a Center for Chinese Studies, and this trip was meant to deepen existing academic ties. As a scholar of public policy and innovation, she also hoped to observe firsthand how China builds state capacity.
With different expectations, the delegation set off on a "dialogue" spanning mountains and seas. In Shanghai, the Latin American scholars visited the city's urban planning exhibition center and also stepped into one of its most local residential communities. If the former showed them how a metropolis is "planned" into being, the field visit to Block 228 Changbai New Village Subdistrict, or Changbai 228, revealed how planning is translated into everyday life - through the leadership and support of CPC organizations at every level.
On an afternoon in early June, the delegation stepped into Changbai 228 in Shanghai's Yangpu district. Since its completion in 1952, it has served as a warm home for the city's industrial workers. More than seven decades later, through urban planning, it has been transformed into a mixed-use community that preserves historical memory while offering modern services.
As the delegation walked through the neighborhood, they passed one amenity after another: a convenience commercial center, an affordable sports and health center, a restaurant, and subsidized rental housing. Inside a local Party-mass service center, some residents were dancing, while music drifted out into the hall. At the entrance, several scholars paused and, unable to resist, began clapping along to the beat.
"From the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, I was able to observe how the state plans and envisions the development of the city; at Changbai 228, I was able to observe the results of that action from the perspective of the community and everyday life," Robalino told the Global Times. What intrigued her most was "how a planned intervention can become a space that does not feel rigid or imposed, but instead becomes a place for connection and coexistence." To her, the case revealed one of the less visible dimensions of public action: what happens after planning, during implementation, when public decisions become part of people's daily lives.
Escalante was equally struck by what Changbai 228 revealed about the CPC's people-centered philosophy. "What attracted my attention most at 228 was the close connection between urban renewal and the everyday well-being of residents," she said.
"Urban space should not be organized solely around commercial consumption. Changbai 228 includes commercial services, but it also has public and community spaces where people can meet, rest or take part in activities, without consumption necessarily being at the center of the experience." In Escalante's view, the CPC's people-centered approach had taken on tangible form. "Development should not be understood only in economic terms or in terms of economic gain, but also in terms of the people."
An immersive understanding
Having visited China in person and seen firsthand how CPC policies are implemented in everyday life and put at the service of the people, these Latin American scholars with a strong interest in China gained a more immersive understanding of some of the Party's core concepts.
Several of the projects the scholars visited enabled them to observe how these concepts are translated into concrete policies and projects, Escalante said. She pointed to some terms often mentioned by the CPC and the Chinese government, such as "people-centered development," "common prosperity" and "Chinese modernization."
"People-centered development" means that development should not be measured solely by economic growth, infrastructure construction or technological progress, but also by its ability to improve people's livelihoods and quality of life, she added.
The scholar further pointed out that, "common prosperity" adds another layer to this vision: growth and modernization should benefit a broader swath of society, and development should help reduce social and regional inequalities. "What is the point of achieving high levels of economic growth or technological development if a significant part of the population is left outside its benefits?"
As for "Chinese modernization," Escalante described it as a modernization path suited to China's own historical, social and political conditions, rather than the assumption that there is only one universal model to follow.
"The leadership of the CPC is also explicitly presented as one of its central elements. From my perspective, the role of the Party is precisely one of the defining features of this process," she told the Global Times. "The Chinese government has considerable capacity to set long-term development goals, coordinate public policies and mobilize resources toward specific priorities. What interests me is how these broad ideas are translated - or are intended to be translated - into concrete policies, and what results they produce at different levels of society."
Cooperation amid challenges
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum. Data show that in 2024 trade between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries exceeded $500 billion for the first time, more than 40 times that of the beginning of this century. In 2025, the figure climbed further to $549 billion. More than 20 Latin American countries had joined the Belt and Road cooperation framework, the Xinhua News Agency reported in May 2025.
Behind the numbers are scholars' observations and reflections. Escalante believes that one of the most practical and promising areas for cooperation between China and Latin America lies in sustainable urban transportation and its integration with new energy - including electric public transit, charging infrastructure, energy storage technologies, smart traffic management systems and shared mobility services. "These are particularly relevant areas for large Latin American cities that face problems such as congestion, pollution, unequal access to transportation and long commuting times," she said.
From the perspective of public administration, Robalino pointed to at least two areas where China and Latin America could find concrete opportunities for South-South cooperation.
"One is the exchange of experience on long-term planning, policy monitoring and strengthening implementation capacity; the other is public innovation," she told the Global Times. "It would be particularly interesting to exchange methodologies for experimentation, institutional learning and scaling up innovations."
When asked about the resurgence of "Monroe Doctrine" thinking in the US, Escalante did not evade the issue. "US influence and pressure on Latin America have a long history," she said. What worries her now, she added, is that the US government has once again publicly invoked the Monroe Doctrine, "which inevitably raises questions in Latin America about sovereignty and the capacity to make our own decisions."
At the same time, Escalante argued that it is too simplistic to explain Latin America's limited autonomy solely through external pressure. "Autonomy also depends on our own capacities. A country with strong institutions, a more diversified economy, lower levels of poverty and inequality, greater scientific and technological capabilities, and a long-term development strategy also has more room to decide with whom it wants to build relations and on what terms," she said.
Looking at Latin America, Escalante said one of the most important lessons from China's experience is the country's ability to define long-term goals and, above all, to translate them into concrete policies.
"Our countries have very different political systems, histories and social conditions, so this is not about copying the Chinese model," she told the Global Times. "However, we can reflect on the importance of building institutional systems that can plan, coordinate policies, ensure a certain degree of continuity and make public decisions truly take effect."
As the scholar put it, "China's experience can prompt Latin America to ask an important question: how do we build states with enough capacity to turn development goals into concrete and lasting improvements in people's lives?"
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