[Fenghuang.com] Ma Liang: Public Service is the Biggest Charm Index of the City

According to reports, many cities nowadays want to build themselves into a “magnet” of talent resources, and increase the number of households, housing, and subsidies in order to increase the magnetic field of this “magnet”. Since the end of last year, dozens of "new first-tier cities" such as Wuhan, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Chengdu have all been involved in the "smashing people's war" and fierce competition for talents.

As the talent wars began to enter the second half, the "War of Smashing Talents" began to transfer to the "War of Keeping Talents". If you say that "recruiting people" requires a lot of work and slogans, then "retaining people" needs to be slow and gentle.

Many cities recognize the importance of “retaining people” and begin to make articles in urban public services, soft environments and cultural atmosphere. For example, through such measures as the Youth Talent Station and the “Rongcheng Talent Green Card”, Chengdu allows talents to enjoy service guarantees such as employment of spouses, school admission for their children, medical social security, and entrepreneurial support, so that talents have a stronger sense of belonging.

Xi'an introduced Eslite, SiSYPHE and other cultural bookstores to promote urban brand marketing and cultural construction. It is expected that the historical cultural resources will be transformed into cultural and creative industries, and talents will truly feel the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient city.

Obviously, these cities are the winners of the "War of Smashing Talents." It is recognized that after the "Picking up", only the public service can be used to retain hard-earned talents.

In the final analysis, the core of urban competition is the competition of public services. Cities that do not rely on high-quality public services can only be destined to be passive water and wood without roots. The reason why first-tier cities can attract talents from all walks of life is crucial to quality public services such as public transportation, cultural and sports leisure facilities, public education, health care, and entrepreneurial work. Therefore, after attracting talents, the “new first-tier cities” still need to provide all-round supporting public services so that they can truly attract, retain, and use talents.

For example, cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, New York, and London, which are cosmopolitan cities, are particularly good cities in terms of livability, entertainment, etc. The quality of public services does attract and retain many talents.

From the point of view of the provision of public services, it is crucial to enable people to live and work in peace and love the city. Talents are not alone. They need to consider the family and social relationships behind them. In addition to making cities more livable, I think "livability" is a more important dimension. It is necessary not only to let talents feel the charm of the city, but also to make friends, spouses, parents, and other relatives and friends feel about it.

For example, smog and other environmental pollution problems may cause talent to come but cannot stay. Again, letting the talents work alone does not consider the rigid needs of their families in terms of their children's enrolment in school, medical treatment, leisure and entertainment, and parental retirement, and it does not help the talents to consider long-term plans and truly take root.

At the same time, the city must provide high-quality administrative services for talented people so that they can be truly respected and valued. Talents dealing with government departments are often in contact with grass-roots staff. Whether they can act with impartiality and enthusiasm, will greatly affect the talent retention and impression.

Therefore, we must avoid focusing only on "grabbing people" but not on "helping people" and "helping others."

What is more important is that cities need to extend and provide more sharing platforms and supporting services so that talented people can have room for exchanges with their peers, so that talents can have a common dialogue language. The place where talents come together is also the place where talents will become better. It may also have a magnet effect and a radiation effect, forming a virtuous cycle of talent gathering and return.

(The author is a research fellow of the National Academy of Development and Strategy and an associate professor of the School of Public Administration, RUC)