Page 51 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Rural–urban village regeneration

as Hong Kong, where 75% of its land remains countryside. circumstances, characterized by migration or second-home
Local researchers and practitioners in architecture and tourism returning to rural environments (McManus, 2022;
community design are reacting to the thrust of rural Wu et al., 2024). In China, rural revitalization is strongly
revitalization (Chang, 2023), which is arguably driven by encouraged by government policies aiming to transition
policies in China aimed at boosting agricultural activities mid- to large-scale villages from agricultural productivism
for food production, characterizing and thematizing to post-productivism. This shift generates multiple
villages through tradition and culture, stimulating cultural outcomes, including cultural, leisure, and nature tourism
tourism, and eventually improving the local economy (Wu et al., 2024). Recent research suggests that counter-
as part of a broader grand narrative. In the recent urbanization in China can foster the formation of a rural
5 years, a wave of countryside movements has emerged middle class while avoiding rural gentrification, largely
across southern China, largely through government- due to the collective land ownership system. This model
funded initiatives aimed at restoring, repurposing, and aspires to achieve an idyllic lifestyle and shared prosperity
regenerating underutilized village structures (Knapp, across urban and rural areas (Yu et al., 2024). Nonetheless,
2024), including those in Hong Kong. for small-scale, post-productivist urban–rural villages with
Funded by the Lantau Conservation Fund under the limited migration, such as Shui Hau village, the discourse
Sustainable Lantau Office, the authors have implemented on village regeneration remains underdeveloped.
a series of regenerative initiatives in Shui Hau village – a Existing literature has addressed various challenges
coastal, modernized, or hybridized suburban area on the related to land policies and political frameworks in rural
Lantau island, which is easily accessible from the nearest regeneration. Many villages face common human-land
satellite town through public transport. problems (Du & Shi, 2019), such as population decline
This article adopts a case study approach and is due to early-year outmigration, the erosion of culture
structured as follows: First, it discusses the existing and traditions, difficulty attracting younger generations,
theoretical background on rural–urban village and insufficient social infrastructure. In Hong Kong,
regeneration. Second, it documents the historical, village development is significantly constrained by the
cultural, and ecological significance of Shui Hau village. unsustainable Small House Policy (SHP), which highly
Third, it examines the challenges posed by the existing diminishes place identity as ethnographic characteristics
underdeveloped legal framework for regeneration. evolve under shifting political, social, and economic
Fourth, it details three bottom-up initiatives proposed circumstances (Ho, 2024; Ma, 2016). Under these
and implemented by the authors to revitalize the village, political circumstances, involved stakeholders often resist
focusing on retelling its history, reinterpreting cultural collaboration with conservationist researchers or fail to
activities, strengthening community bonds, and educating contribute creatively (Ma, 2016).
the public. These initiatives include: (i) Rediscovering A recent study highlights that community-based, action-
traditions and rituals through tactical interventions, oriented research scholars are often fluidly positioned by
(ii) restoring the historic stone house into a living culture villagers as “trusted outsiders” or “affective collaborators”
cooperative, and (iii) reinterpreting the ruined grain in rural settings, where verbal communication can be
store as a farming cooperative. Finally, a retrospective sensitive, stereotypical, and judgemental (Magnus & Rai,
review is presented, uncovering key findings related to 2024). However, the impact of rural policies on these
land ownership, building regulations, governance, and dynamics remains underexplored. In China, universities are
discrepancies during implementation. These findings aim increasingly engaging in community co-creation models
to stimulate further discussion on the policy implications for knowledge co-production and social empowerment.
across multiple levels. Researchers emphasize the need for flexible rural planning
and construction policies to accommodate the diverse
2. Theoretical background on rural–urban nature of rural locales (Lang et al., 2024).
village regeneration Overall, there is a lack of discussion on how post-
Recent studies on village regeneration have investigated productivist village regeneration initiatives can move
rurality and urbanicity as distinct concepts (Dong, 2018; Yan beyond development-oriented models, such as SHP, at
et al., 2018) while emerging research has started to explore the macroscale and how these initiatives influence social
the rural–urban continuum, integration, and symbiosis dynamics – such as psychological land ownership (Bullock
(Hoffmann et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2019). While population & Lamoureux, 2025) – at the microscale. This article aims to
and settlement patterns vary drastically across contexts, address these gaps by illustrating the mechanisms of novel
the idea of counter-urbanism has emerged in certain initiatives for rural–urban village regeneration, revealing

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4992