Background and Purposes

Ongoing urbanization has made traditional rural communities seem unable to support modern life. Confronted with economic underdevelopment, population outflow, infrastructure shortage, worsening living environment, and lack of educational and medical resources, local residents have had to migrate elsewhere for a better life. In the meantime, local cultures are being encroached by foreign ones, leaving traditional rural communities undervalued, and traditional rural communities and their residents gradually disappearing. Against this backdrop, traditional rural communities are becoming a thing of the past. Following the theme of its previous version, this project is designed to better sustain the cultural legacy in traditional rural communities, promote rural economic development, and solve the problem of “hollow” villages, based on which to protect traditional rural communities and help them thrive in different ways. Through theoretical analysis and practical efforts, we will explore the ways of protecting, and reinvigorating traditional rural communities in the new era.

General Outline

This project, to be undertaken in North China’s Shanxi Provinve in the form of a workshop, , welcomes college students in the third year (for undergraduates) or above, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and other members of China’s C9 League, universities in Hong Kong and Macao, and overseas universities that provide programs in architecture, urban and rural planning, sociology, anthropology, and rural economic management. The team will conduct field research in the rural communities in the Lianghu Village of Gaoping City in the southeast of Shanxi Province and then, based on what they have found, compete with one another to provide input for the local traditional rural communities in identifying new development patterns.

Management Guidelines

The project leader is supposed to ensure production of research report, chart progress, deploy personnel, and manage funds and materials. The other members shall work with each other to perform tasks as required.本次活动创作作品要求如下：

Requirements for the entries of the project are as follows:

1. Phase Ⅰ (July 28th, 2021 - August 3rd, 2021): Project teams are expected to formulate a restoration and reuse plan for historical architectures, a plan that should cover drawings and budget before publishing posters and videos on the crowdfunding platform.

2. Phase Ⅱ (Time to be confirmed): After funding is in place, project teams will leave for rural communities to carry out the plans.