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| RESTRUCTURING THE RURAL PUBLIC SPACE IN THE CONTEXT OF RURAL HOLLOWING: A CASE STUDY OF SANGZHUANG TOWN IN DENGZHOU |
| FENG Jian, ZHAO Nan |
| College of Urban and Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China |
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Abstract In process of urbanization, as population move to cities from countryside, rural hollowing extends rapidly all across China. Based on the field investigation in Sangzhuang town, Dengzhou city, this study employs questionnaires and in-depth interviews as the methods to discuss the route of rural society optimization through restructuring public space. The interaction between society and space is key clue of the theoretical study, and three basic assumptions are put forward, as ‘the social structure is reflected by the logic of relations’, ‘the social structure impact on the spatial structure’ and ‘the spatial structure react on the social structure’. Empirical research is organized to test and amend these assumptions. According to the field study, the change of power structure in rural society is mainly reflected by the decay of official authority and the strengthening of NGOs and able-persons. Changes in rural society not only cause a lot of problems, but also affect the pattern of public space though changing the logic of relations between villagers and other subjects. Meanwhile, rural public space has a reaction on rural social structure. By providing space for public activities, rituals and cultural symbol, which are essential elements for family units and neighborhood units, rural public space in turn plays an influential part in shaping the social structure in rural communities. As the spatial structure has feedback on social structure, social structure could be optimized via public space restructuring. To build and govern rural public space in the context of village hollowing, the biggest obstacle lies in the imbalance of financial power and administrative power among grass-root units, resulting in less mobilizable resources for village collectives.
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Received: 19 October 2016
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2016, Vol. 31 
