Page 52 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Rural–urban village regeneration

the dynamics between stakeholders and researchers, and The village’s hybrid lifestyle is also reflected in its
exploring the dual roles of researchers as trusted outsiders culinary traditions, particularly the preparation of
and effective collaborators. These insights seek to inform leihuobian (酹镬边). This traditional dish, common in
future practices and recommend context-specific policy local coastal communities, integrates resources from both
changes. Adopting a case study approach, this article farmlands and the sea. Freshly caught seafood such as
also aims to contribute to the growing body of practice- clams are cooked to create a seafood soup, whereas rice
led architectural research (Rust, Mottram and Till, 2007) paste is skilfully poured along the edge of a heated iron
and qualitative rural studies in the wider Asian context wok. Once dried, the rice paste forms noodles, which are
(Strijker et al., 2020). then pushed into the soup and mixed before serving. The
ingredients and preparation methods reflect the village’s
3. Shui Hau village: A coastal rural–urban unique landscape and cultural practices, rooted in both
village farming and fishing traditions.
As its name suggests, Shui Hau village, located in Hong 3.1. Urbanization and the decline of agriculture
Kong SAR, China, is a coastal settlement situated at the
river mouth between Tong Fuk village and Shek Pik With the significant demand for labor to construct the
reservoir (formerly Shek Pik village, which is submerged South Lantau road and Shek Pik reservoir in the late 1950s,
beneath the reservoir). Over the years, it has maintained many villagers started seeking work as builders outside Shui
a stable population of around 200 residents, three-fourths Hau village. In the 1960s, the water supply to villages in
of whom are indigenous villagers. The community is South Lantau was reduced due to the construction of new
composed of three major Punti (local) clans with the aqueducts that diverted water to the reservoir and increased
surnames Chan (陈), Chi (池), and Feng (冯). The Chi clan usage by the neighboring Tong Fuk prison. The reduced
availability of stream water for irrigation severely impacted
established the earliest settlement in 1625 after relocating agricultural activities. To mitigate this issue, the water pipe
from Shek Pik village, followed by the Fung and Chan clans.
Some members of the Chi clan identify as Hakka, likely due supplying Tong Fuk village was split to provide water to Shui
to cultural influences from inter-village marriages with Hau village, leading to inter-village conflicts over competing
Hakka spouses. Shui Hau village has undergone expansion water resources in 1962. In 1964, the water shortage
and integration with different ethnic groups, resulting in caused widespread crop failures, and the government’s
territories demarcated by clan settlements. This segregation compensation for the losses was deemed unsatisfactory by
villagers. The issue was exacerbated by unusually dry weather
–– both physical and social – remains evident in modern in the following years, intensifying the water scarcity. The
times, with minimal interpersonal interactions between problem became so severe that the government arranged
clans and occasion intergroup conflicts (Chau & Lau, 1982).
for daily water trucks to supply Shui Hau from Mui Wo,
Before the construction of the South Lantau road in located about 20 min away by road. With the advent of more
1973, the village was closely connected to its surrounding convenient transportation, better salaries in urban areas, and
farmlands and the sea, fostering a unique lifestyle that the availability of public housing in newly developed towns,
combined farming and fishing. Agricultural production many villagers moved to urban areas. As a result, traditional
primarily focused on rice cultivation, with villagers farming activities in Shui Hau started to decline. In the 1990s,
trading their high-quality crops in Cheung Chau. Two almost no farming activities were reported.
rice harvests were achieved annually. In addition to rice, Since then, the morphology of Shui Hau village has
villagers grew vegetables such as sweet potatoes, taro, and transformed into an eco-cultural landscape, featuring a
spring onions for personal consumption. To store their broad spectrum of landscape characteristics and historical
harvests, resourceful villagers built simple storage huts, remnants. Spanning from the shoreline to the mountains,
commonly referred to as “grain stores.” the area includes sandflats, mangroves, marshes, seasonally
Fishing complemented farming as an essential livelihood. wet grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, farmlands, the new
Male villagers typically engaged in fishing, whereas females and old village structures, and fengshui woods, with the
were mainly involved in clam digging. Some women Shui Hau stream flowing from the mountains to the river
continue to take pride in their clam-digging skills, using the mouth (Figure 1). The intertidal area has been recognized
chikoulian (刺口镰), a slightly bent metal hook traditionally for its high conservation value due to its ecological
used to stab and hook clams. This tool, with its slim metal significance of biodiversity. In 2023, the government
tube and pointed head, minimizes the environmental impact further designated some coastal protection areas near the
on sandflats compared to shovels, providing a traditional yet shoreline as “conservation areas” to reflect the urgency of
sustainable method of clam harvesting. conserving natural habitats.

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