Page 46 - JCAU-5-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Envisioning rural futures

sites in rural areas (Bray, 2013). In continuity with these administrative cadres and private corporations. While
initiatives, the National New Type of Urbanization Plan and these projects have improved the living conditions of rural
the Rural Revitalization Strategy Plan have been launched citizens, they also emphasize the tension between the
in 2014 and 2018, respectively, with massive resources for goals of environmental conservation of land on one hand
improving agricultural production, new policies to address and the modernization and improvement of productive
governance difficulties, and novel programs for improving activities on the other. This tension is reflected in today’s
the standards of living in rural areas (Wang & Zhuo, 2018; urban and architectural competitions, which require
Chu, 2020; Liu et al., 2020a). Furthermore, since 2019, the the protection of the environment, the reduction of land
State Council has established an inter-ministerial joint consumption, the increase in agricultural production,
conference system with the National Development and and the preservation of traditional rural characters. In
Reform Commission (NDRC) to foster the coordination Zhejiang Province, the attempt to reconcile these demands
between these many initiatives and better integrating is evident in the initiatives recently implemented by
urban-rural development (Han, 2019). administrative bodies such as Lishui Municipality. These
While these many initiatives have been promoted by evidence a shift from urban and industrial development to
the national government, forms of grassroots urbanization a more environmentally friendly approach.
involving local administrations and private players have The Lishui Municipality extends over 17,298 sqkm
led to a rise in independent projects to improve rural areas. and has a population of about 2.7 million people (Lishui
In particular, the Zhejiang Province has been a place of Bureau of Statistics, 2020). Due to its marginal status and
exceptional experimentation (see Commerell & Feireiss, the difficult orography of the area, it is one of the poorest
2020; Sun et al., 2022; Lin & Jia, 2023). Already in 2002, the in the Zhejiang Province: It has the lowest per-capita
Provincial Government launched the Green Rural Revival GDP, less than half of that of the more developed areas,
program to supply services in rural areas and to improve and the lowest annual per-capita income, an average of
agricultural production. Following this strategy, local 30,000 CNY (Yue et al., 2014). Furthermore, access to
cadres implemented specific projects, which have resulted education and healthcare is poor, and the migration rate
in important achievements. Particularly, the government toward the Coastal Regions is the highest in the province
of Anji County enacted policies for the preservation (Zhejiang Province Bureau of Statistics, 2022). To address
and renewal of villages and traditional crops, strongly these issues, the local government has promoted many
promoting slow tourism centered on well-being and health initiatives to develop this area over the past 30 years. These
in 2008. This initiative known as Beautiful Countryside schemes have centered on Liandu District: A mountainous
had a great success, which prompted the regional territory that extends over 150,000 hectares, with 417,200
government to adopt it in other parts of its territory. inhabitants, of whom 180,000 live in Lishui city (Lishui
Five years later, the national government launched the Bureau of Statistics, 2020).
Beautiful China Initiative (BCI), extending this strategy In 1993, the provincial government of Zhejiang
for the recovery of rural areas nationally (Weller & Hands,
2021). In parallel, the Zhejiang Province also hosted one instituted the Lishui Economic Technology Development
of Alibaba’s pilot projects, the Qingyanliu Taobao Village Zone (Lishui ETDZ), and in 2002, work began on
in Yiwu Municipality, where 10% of the families and over the Lishui Shuige Industrial Park: a 14,534-hectare
100 stores are active in e-commerce through the Taobao development located 4 km southwest of Lishui city. Since
Marketplace platform (Li, 2017; Wang et al., 2021). The the initial 2-year phase of construction, the site has been
success of this experiment, which generated strong growth, under the supervision of the NDRC, which has funded
has led this model to be adopted in the less developed areas its realization. Thereafter, in 2007, Lishui Municipality
of the Coastal and Central Regions, with a boom in the promoted Nancheng District: The eastward expansion
number of Taobao Villages, from 212 in 2014 to 7,023 in of the above industrial park with the addition of a new
2021 (Ali Research Institute, 2022). town for 170,000 inhabitants. To turn this project into a
reality, a hilly territory of 3528 hectares was leveled and
These initiatives are summarized in Figure 1, together equipped with roads parceling out plots of 500 × 500 m.
with the projects undertaken by Lishui Municipality to Within this development, 30% of the area was designated
promote development. for industry, 25% for environmental facilities and
public spaces, and the remainder for residential use
3. The development of Lishui Valley (Administration of Lishui ETDZ, 2011). Work began in

Initiatives for promoting novel patterns of development in the following year, and Nancheng District was included
rural spaces have sprung up since 2015 as a result of both in the Urban Masterplan of Lishui City (2013 – 2030). In

Volume 5 Issue 3 (2023) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0957