Every year about a million people in China move from rural villages and towns to big cities. Lots of planning efforts—both good and bad—have focused on fast-growing cities, but very little work has looked at the countryside where depopulation and the changing economics of farming threaten the very existence of many villages. With that as a backdrop, the University of Southern California’s American Academy in China (AAC) and its School of Architecture addressed the urban-rural divide in an exhibition and symposium in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen near the end of July.
Entitled China in Flux: Mapping the Middle Zone, the events brought together students and teachers from universities in Asia, the United States, and Europe, as well as speakers from academia, business, and the media. (Disclosure: this writer made a presentation and moderated a panel discussion.) The goal was to apply innovative thinking to the challenge of shrinking and disappearing villages. Can planners, designers, and developers find ways of reviving rural areas without destroying the characteristics that make these places attractive—such as traditional ways and scenic landscapes?
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