Culture-Led Plan for Peri-Urban Agricultural Sustainability: A Case of Pu’an Village in China

Abstract

Most cases of multifunctional peri-urban agriculture offer diverse economic and ecological benefits, while a few involve cultural dimensions. In China, a “cultural turn” in the construction plan of beautiful villages has occurred. Through the analysis of policy and focus-group interviews, this research analyzes a case study of rural planning in the Pu’an village, a peri-urban village near Changzhou city in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Particular attention is given to investigating the process of identifying the local cultural symbol of a multifunctional plant, the bulrush. Combining natural landscape and cultural resources, rural planning explores the multifunctional agricultural services based on the bulrush-central creative industry in Pu’an village. The research introduces the framework of “bulrush + creative industry,” which includes one core industry and two extended industries. The core industry is a creative processing industry, and the two extended ones are the creative planting industry and the creative tourist industry. Highlighting the participation of local villagers and outsiders or urban tourist, as well as the creative class and entrepreneurs, the research emphasizes the revival of local rural culture, especially in peri-urban villages. Finally, this paper contributes to exploring a new area of cultural dynamics for the sustainable development of peri-urban agriculture, combined with creative rural experience and ruralism.

A Synergetic Perspective on the Planning of the “City in a Park”: A Case Study of the Sichuan Tianfu New Area, China

“…For example, suburban farmland exhibits multifunctionality. The development of green industries such as urban agriculture and ecotourism not only provides new points of economic growth for the city but also drives technological innovation and the emergence of new business models [70,71]. Ecological spaces play a bridging role in urban spatial restructuring, promoting the optimization of industrial layouts and the rebalancing of regional economies through ecological restoration and spatial reshaping.…”

Productivism and Post-Productivism: An Analysis of Functional Mixtures in Rural China

“…Another view is that the productive regime, with its intensified and industrialized agriculture, has produced negative environmental externalities, in response to which a post-productive trend has emerged in rural China [31,32]. Scholars have provided empirical evidence of post-productive transformation through case studies and have pointed out that villages have agricultural value and ecological benefits, along with critical cultural functions [13]. As a second home, the countryside has attracted more urban residents due to its amenities, pastoral scenery, and so on [33].…”

“…There is not only a development trend of productivism, represented by the modern agriculture demonstration district, but also the new trend of post-productivism, represented by consumption centers, such as farmyards, tourist villages, and so on. Previous research has attempted to use the theoretical framework of productivism and post-productivism to discuss the transformation trend of rural China [13][14][15]. However, there is a gap between China's urbanization level and that of Western countries, and China's background of integration into globalization also differs from that of the West [16].…”

Spatial Characteristics of Suburban Villages Based on Spatial Syntax

“…Wei introduces the creative processing, planting, and tourism industries for the provision of diversified economic and ecological benefits for suburban villages at the cultural level [22]. Currently, suburban village spaces still have many problems, such as the loss of the village style, the failure of some spaces to meet the needs of the villagers, and the existence of spatial behavioral conflicts between tourists and villagers [23]. The spatial forms of villages are in urgent need of reconstruction.…”