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| RE-UNDERSTANDING RURAL CHINA FROM A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE:CONTEMPORARY PERCEPTION, VALUE AND RENAISSANCE OF THE COUNTRYSIDE |
| SHEN Ming-rui1,2, SHEN Jian-fa1,3, ZHANG Jing-xiang2, ZHAO Chen4 |
1. Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;
2. Research Center for Regional Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
3. Research Centre for Urban & Regional Development, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;
4. General Office of Administrative Committee, Singapore-Nanjing Ecological Technology Island, Nanjing 210017, China |
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Abstract Based on the review, we set up an analysis framework for rural perception from dimensions of subject and function. The subjects includes different scalar levels of stute urban-rural region, rural residents and urban dewellers. The functions involves differents aspects of security, economy, ecology, living, culture and education. Inspired by this framework, the trajectory of the rural development in China after 1949 can be categoried into three periods under a evolutionary perception. It had experienced the sacrificial period during the planned economy since 1949 and catching-up period after the 1978 market-oriented reform. Furthermore,this paper argues that the values of the countryside in contemporary China can be categorised into three levels: rural as farmland-agriculture production is still important in the countryside of China; rural as hinterland-the core-periphery theory on urban-rural relationship should be rethought in the aspects of economic,ecological and social functions; rural as homeland-it has go beyond pragmatic understanding to the unique humanistic value for the Chinese nation. Lastly, based on the past linear paradigm of rural transition, this paper proposes the concept of ‘rural renaissance’.
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Received: 20 January 2015
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2015, Vol. 30 
