Page 60 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Rural–urban village regeneration

Figure 10. Extra fire safety installations at the entrance hall for “shop and services.
Source: Drawing by the authors.

policies. The lengthy process frustrated the partnering primarily as general storage. Without proper management
villagers and significantly undermined their confidence in or maintenance, the roofs and walls deteriorated. When
implementing regenerative initiatives. the regenerative initiative was announced, the owner of
the adjacent land lot immediately demolished the old
6.3. Loose governance over village development structure and rebuilt the house. Although the rebuilt
The uncontrolled development of small houses represents structure maintained the same roofed-over area, it featured
an unsustainable policy (Hopkinson & Lei, 2003) that has an increased floor height to access an outdoor roof terrace,
caused irreversible changes in many rural villages. Since the resulting in a pitched roof with an awkward, incongruous
relationship between new houses and their surroundings shape. The retained shared façade could not compensate
is not considered, this has led to the erosion of landscape for the irreversible visual impact on the historic structures.
features and the disappearance of vernacular architecture, Although the reconstruction may not technically qualify as
such as the Hakka houses, resulting in eccentric village unauthorized building works, it transformed the historic
esthetics. This has arguably fostered a hidden agenda structures into an eclectic and eccentric hybrid. In this
among villagers, whereby small houses can be constructed sense, the governance of rural development concerning
easily. As long as the building size adheres to prescribed existing fabric is loose and ineffective.
dimensions, development rarely faces strong opposition.
Over time, the esthetics of villages have been replaced by 6.4. Discrepancies between expected and actual
the standardized forms of “Spanish villas,” characterized realities
by full-height glazing units, large balconies, and façades In retrospect, several discrepancies between the expected
covered with modern ceramic tiles. There is no governance and actual realities of the project have emerged –
to ensure the integrity of the landscape. particularly regarding project beneficiaries, management,
The uncoordinated development has also had adverse and outcomes. These challenges can largely attributed to
effects on historic buildings, including House No. 49. The existing administrative constraints. From the perspective
shared façade of the house originally reflected single-family of both the government and the university, all project
ownership, but this was split into two units as the family grew. personnel must be engaged through a central vetting
Over time, the two units lost communication and were used system.

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4992