Page 70 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Exploring elite involvement in China’s rural

revitalization: A case study of three villages in
Shunde

Yixin Tao 1 and Xiao Liu *
2
1 Department of Environmental Design, School of Architectural and Environmental Arts, Beihai
University of Art and Design, Beihai, Guangxi, China
2 Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Conservation and Utilization of Rural Heritage in the
Context of Rural Revitalization)

Abstract

Rural revitalization stands as a current development strategy strongly advocated by
the government, aimed at fostering rural economic development and improving the
livelihood of rural residents. Central to this process is the active participation of the
social elite, recognized as a major driving force behind rural revitalization efforts.
Through a comprehensive literature review, this article groundbreakingly identifies
three models of social elite involvement in China’s rural revitalization: government
elite-led, capital elite-led, and intellectual elite-led. Employing a comparative case
*Corresponding author: study approach focusing on three villages in Shunde (Qingtian Village, Fengjian
Xiao Liu Village, and Gulang Village), each representing one of the aforementioned models,
(xialiu@must.edu.mo) this article conducted extensive field studies and in-depth interviews. By doing
Citation: Tao, Y. & Liu, X. (2024). so, it aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of each model, as well as the
Exploring elite involvement in challenges they encounter. Ultimately, the study endeavors to uncover a locally
China’s rural revitalization: A case
study of three villages in Shunde. sustainable model of social elite involvement that best suits the needs of the
Journal of Chinese Architecture and local community, thereby promoting greater achievements in the pursuit of rural
Urbanism, 6(3), 2940. revitalization.
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.2940
Received: February 15, 2024
Keywords: Social elite; Rural revitalization; Shunde
Accepted: March 26, 2024
Published Online: May 28, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an open-access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution- In recent years, the domestic tourism market has experienced significant growth, leading
Non-Commercial 4.0 International tourism development and characteristic towns to emerge as the mainstream of rural
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all revitalization strategies. However, the prevalent capital-oriented tourism development
non-commercial use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, models often fail to foster genuine rural revitalization. On the contrary, many villages
provided the original work is undergo homogenization in the wake of tourism development, resulting in a loss of
properly cited. vitality. Moreover, the historical and cultural resources, as well as historical traditional
Publisher’s Note: AccScience spaces, of these villages suffer varying degrees of damage. Recent initiatives, such as
Publishing remains neutral with the government-led deployment of “planners, architects, and engineers as professional
regard to jurisdictional claims in volunteers to serve the countryside” and the “Beautiful Countryside” movement, have
published maps and institutional
affiliations. become crucial means for implementing rural revitalization strategies across various

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.2940