After the merger of county and city, how can rural towns revitalize and regain their local vitality?

Regaining local vitality - 16th Community College National Symposium forum dialogue notes

Moderator: Professor Zeng Xuzheng, Graduate School of Architecture, Tainan National University of the Arts

Panelists: Director Zhang Wenbin, Xinying Community College

Chief Secretary Zhang Guanghua, Sanying Community College

Director-General Cai Peiru, Qingshui Niumatou Cultural Association

Director Li Cheng'an, Fengshan Community College

Respondents: Professor Chen Ruihua, Institute of Sociology, National Tsing Hua University

Professor Hong Xinlan, Graduate Institute of Hakka Culture Studies, National Kaohsiung Normal University

Director Guo Feiyu, Department of National Spatial Planning, National Development Council

Professor Zeng Xuzheng's introduction: The spatial distribution of urban and rural population is polarizing, and the vitality of rural towns is declining!

Facing the polarization of Taiwan's population spatial distribution, most people live in metropolitan areas, while a minority are dispersed across vast townships. As the spatial layout tilts and adjusts with the urban-rural relationship, the local vitality of the entire rural town is declining.

The most obvious example is that Tainan's community colleges are dispersed among these townships, so how should local community colleges face this situation?

For example, I live in Xiaying. My father asked me to go buy a pair of pants, and when I walked to the street, almost all the clothing stores were withering. The most numerous were beverage shops, clinics, and opticians. Even though people clearly know that electronics stores on the street are 10 to 20 percent more expensive than online, elderly people in the countryside still buy on the street, because repairs are convenient, and after-sales service feels more personal.

The gap in lifestyle between urban and rural areas affects several layers of relationships: the relationship between people and land, between people and people, and between people and themselves. These accumulate to form life in the community. For example, people in an environment with a rich social network are actually relatively safe, but people in an alienated environment are more likely to face risks.

(Image source: Public Television Service website)

Questioner Ye Xingzhen (consultant, Kaohsiung Breeze Market)：

In terms of urban-rural exchange, Kaohsiung County launched the Breeze Market, which is actually a good case. The Breeze Market has now also become a brand and further promotes green restaurants. However, after the merger of county and city, although the Kaohsiung City Government is also promoting green restaurants, the amount of vegetables from small organic farmers is actually very small.

Moreover, in the Breeze Market we saw that after the merger of county and city, the thinking of the entire public sector changed, and it seems to lean more toward contracting out.

The former Social Affairs Department of Kaohsiung County used to go into communities itself to provide guidance. Now after the merger of county and city, the city government's thinking has become contracting out. It contracts to consulting companies, and the consulting companies try their best to satisfy the quantitative indicators the city government wants, but in fact nothing accumulates; when the case ends, it ends.

Local associations are different. NGO organizations have always been doing these things. Whether or not there are resources, after a case ends, they will find ways to seek resources and continue to do things.

 

*Recorded and compiled by Lin Jiyang（This article has not been checked one by one with each panelist; the writer takes responsibility for the content.

*Simultaneously published on the official website of the Community College National Promotion Association:http://www.napcu.org.tw/2012/news233.html