ON first impressions, the loft building on Hongcao Road in Xuhui District is like many of its kind in the city — with big windows creating a light-filled space.

At one corner of Hongmei Home are comfy sofas surrounded by shelves of books, while adding to the relaxed vibe is an electronic darts board hanging above coffee machines perched on a low cabinet.

Opposite, on the wall above the reception desk, hangs a sign in red block capitals with a single word in English “PARTY.”

“The word party here has different interpretations,” said He Mingxing, a deputy director of Hongmei Sub-district. “It can refer to the Communist Party of China, as this is one of its grassroots offices. But free ‘parties’ — fun activities — are also available here.”

A grassroots Party office usually functions as a place for local Party members to gather and hold meetings.

But Hongmei Home’s facilities are available to anyone who lives or works in the community — including nearby Caohejing Hi-Tech Park — whether or not a Party member. Visitors can drop in for a cup of coffee, to read for a while or play darts.

The decor and furniture reflect a northern European sensibility, an impression heightened by bright pictures in vivid colors. The loft also features a large space where everything from seminars to yoga lessons can be held.

A place for all

“Hongmei Home is a place for us all and serves every one of us in the community,” He said. “Initially it was the same as other grassroots Party offices but later we found that it could be different.” Events range from Party lessons and seminars through to matchmaking events, added He.

Anyone interested can sign up through the WeChat instant messaging platform. Appropriately, employees from Tencent — WeChat’s owner — are frequent visitors as Tencent has its Shanghai headquarters in the high-tech park. The entire building is covered by WiFi.

Officials say this open-house approach can help cultivate wider grassroots support. “Compared with traditional ways, it works as spring rain, moistening gradually and silently,” said Cao Lei, head of the Party office at Hongmei Home.

It is the city’ first Party office also officially registered as a social center, said He.

Hongmei has around 40,000 residents and serves almost 200,000 office workers. More than 10,000 Party members live or work in the area — including with private companies, foreign funded enterprises, government agencies or scientific establishments.

Hongmei Home works together with the local women federation and trade union and foreign entrepreneurs and local Party officials form a joint administrative committee.

It holds round table discussions which stress equality and joint governance as keys to innovation bridging relations between employers, employees and local government, said officials.

Hongmei Home helps improve relations between employers and employees, enterprises and local government, they added. “In many occasions we are just initiators,” Cao told Shanghai Daily.

An unusual example of such initiating was a romantic service offered on March 6, when Hongmei Home offered to deliver a rose on behalf of any man in the community to the object of his affections. “We press the button and let them do the rest,” Cao said. The center is now looking to introduce more social events and has outsourced part of this to social organizations, added Cao.

Hongmei Home is among many efforts Hongmei Sub-district has made to serve its people and businesses.

An ideal environment

Because Caohejing Hi-Tech Park is in the jurisdiction of Hongmei Sub-district, the local government has set up a comprehensive service center in the park. While Hongmei Home mainly serves office workers and local residents, the center puts enterprises at the top of its agenda.

“Companies are willing to settle here because we provide a complete industrial chain,” said Zhang Lan, deputy director of Hongmei Sub-district. “They can easily find suppliers and distributors here. We offer them an ideal environment.”

“Caohejing Hi-Tech Park is not like some other industrial zones heavily reliant on preferential policies and cheap land. We offer our clients sound services,” Zhang added.

In any case, since the end of last year, investment promotion has been removed from sub-district authority responsibilities in the city.

Hongmei had built its center months earlier ahead of the city government decision, to better serve companies in the high-tech park through sound services.

There are more than 3,000 companies, mostly technical firms, in the park.

The service center offers a one-stop administrative approval process, utilizing instant messaging tools such as QQ and WeChat to push answers and notices. Indeed, it is building on its online platforms to turn the whole park into a smart community.

According to Zhang, a 4G WiFi network will be completed this year, together with apps to deliver public services instantly. “Office workers will be able to use their mobile phone to check for parking spaces or empty seats at canteens,” Zhang said. “More integrated online services are anticipated.”

A greener way

To make getting around easier, Zhang and his colleagues have organized two shuttle buses — with a third on the way — ferrying workers from Metro stations and bus stops to their offices.

These offer a greener way to getting around than private cars, and many of the new buildings are also smarter and more environmentally friendly. Monitoring systems provide energy use alerts, roofs have solar panels and waste water is recycled.

The park used to house many micro-electronics firms but now more and more Internet companies are attracted.

Industry talents are also keen to live here as Hongmei Sub-district is the city’s first to offer them government-subsidized apartments — furnished and with a garage.

They are entitled to medical care service and social insurance, while the cultural side is not neglected either.

“We’ve also planned concerts and art gallery visits for this year, as we want people to enjoy living and working here,” Zhang said.