Vegetable markets should not be labeled as non-capital functions
Wholesale markets relocated outward, industrial enterprises moved away, garbage recycling sites relocated... For some time now, Beijing has achieved remarkable results in relieving non-capital functions, improving urban governance and also catalyzing the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. However, amid this positive situation, one phenomenon deserves attention: some residents have reported that in certain subdistricts and communities, the vegetable markets they have frequented for years are facing relocation, and small shops along the streets are being cleared away one after another, greatly affecting residents' daily lives. What is even more questionable is that these relocations and clearances are also being carried out under the banner of "relieving non-capital functions."
When vegetable markets are moved far away but residents' stoves remain right where they are, the inability to buy fresh and cheap vegetables directly heightens livelihood anxieties. Are vegetable markets a non-capital function? The public's doubt is not hard to resolve. According to the standard definition, only functions that do not conform to the capital city's strategic positioning are considered non-capital functions. These fall into four categories: general manufacturing, regional logistics bases and wholesale markets, some public services such as medical care and education, and some administrative and institutional service agencies. Vegetable markets clearly do not fall into any of these categories. No matter how much a city slims down, it cannot affect people's ability to eat. How could it lack vegetable markets?
From another perspective, when some subdistricts and communities clear away vegetable markets and small street shops, they are objectively also moving out some migrant populations engaged in small businesses, which helps control Beijing's total population. But what is also moved away is the convenience of life. Urban development cannot want only white-collar workers and not blue-collar workers, only mental labor and not physical labor. When life loses convenience and gains burdens, it may ultimately lead to the loss of talent. Controlling the total population must be upheld, but at the same time, structural imbalance must be prevented. Building an international metropolis requires both high-level talent and a portion of people to keep the city running.
The ancients said, "A city is where people gather and prosper." People gather in cities to live a good life. If there is only a city without a market, survival itself is difficult, let alone living well. In fact, regarding vegetable markets and other livelihood facilities, Beijing's positioning is quite clear. A relevant official of Beijing once revealed that the space vacated by relieving non-capital functions should be used to solve livelihood issues such as "lacking parking lots, lacking vegetable markets, and lacking convenience stores and supermarkets." Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun explicitly stated that "vegetable markets urgently needed by the people cannot be handled with a one-size-fits-all approach." The Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform also emphasized that "regional wholesale markets are targets for relocation, but farmers' markets are an essential part of daily life" - they are not to be moved away, but rather to have "management strengthened and gradual upgrading." Relieving non-capital functions was originally intended to cure "urban diseases" and make ordinary people's lives better. Slapping the "non-capital function" label on vegetable markets runs completely counter to the original goal.
The Central Urban Work Conference emphasized that adhering to the principle of "people's cities for the people" is the starting point and ultimate goal of doing urban work well. The core of a city is people, and the key lies in 12 characters: food, clothing, housing and transportation; birth, aging, illness and death; living in peace and working in contentment. From this perspective, governing an mega-city like Beijing does involve complex problems, real dilemmas, and even unspoken difficulties. But no matter how difficult it is, the most basic livelihood bottom line should be safeguarded. After all, solving people's problems well is the value orientation of urban work; making the people live better in the city is the fundamental standard for evaluating a city.
The central authorities proposed "building modern cities that are harmonious and livable, full of vitality, and distinctive in character," with "harmonious and livable" placed first. What exactly "harmonious and livable" looks like may be interpreted differently by different people, but one thing is common: if people wake up in the morning not knowing where their three meals a day will come from, even if they live in high-rise buildings, it can hardly be called "harmonious and livable."