Will rural areas become a luxury or a counterfeit in the next 30 years? The key lies here
Chinese history always follows certain patterns, just as Laozi said, "The appearance of great virtue follows only the Dao." The rural areas of the next 30 years will certainly be vastly different from today's rural areas. Different people have different predictions. What changes will occur?
This year, in the first half, there was an article titled "In the Next 30 Years, Rural Areas Will Become a Luxury" that went viral across the country and flooded social media feeds. An article like that looks beautiful and lets everyone drift into a dream. So-called "returning-home diaries," "nostalgia," "rural affection," "rural decline" and other keyword articles flooded major media outlets, websites and forums.
How much do you really know about today's rural areas?
How to grasp the patterns of rural development, examine, consider and study them from a historical, long-term and developmental perspective, adhere to a problem-oriented approach and propose development strategies -- this is an extremely urgent strategic task for China's rural development today.
At present, three phenomena have emerged in rural areas:
1. The "two many, two few" phenomenon constrains the momentum of rural development.
Two many: many people going out to work for employment, and many left-behind people who are "elderly, young, sick or weak";
Two few: few school-age children, and few young and middle-aged laborers (outflow).
2. The "two idle, two scattered" phenomenon constrains the development of public welfare undertakings and the building of service-oriented Party organizations.
Two idle: idle houses, idle positions;
Two scattered: villagers' residences are scattered, and Party members are scattered.
3. The "two returns, two lacks" phenomenon constrains the overall planning of village and township development and the building of the Party cadre team.
Two returns: the return patterns of those who went out are characterized by "migratory bird-style movement" and "disorderly return to the nest," and their mobility and volatility add many uncertain factors to village and township planning, construction and development;
Two lacks: a lack of Party membership applicants and a lack of reserve cadres, which has brought unprecedented challenges to the building of the Party cadre team. In addition, current grassroots cadres are seriously corrupt, which severely damages the image of the team, and young people are unwilling to join.
In the face of the above "three phenomena," I believe the "new three-fold transformation" should be implemented: rural customization, large-scale production, and community-based management.
How can rural development be optimized? Six concepts must also be transformed:
In spatial cognition, complete the conceptual transformation from rural construction to rural development;
In cultural understanding, complete the conceptual transformation from rural culture to a culture of rural areas;
In the economic system, complete the conceptual transformation from agricultural economy to rural economy;
In development philosophy, complete the conceptual transformation from consuming rural areas to rural consumption;
In governance model, complete the conceptual transformation from villager self-governance to elite co-governance;
In community evolution, complete the conceptual transformation from leaving rural areas to entering rural areas.
The true revitalization of rural areas must rely on villagers' sense of agency and enthusiasm for building, and must value the guidance of planning and the support of public policies.
Capital, culture, art, landscape, design, architecture, media and various other external forces converge across sectors and enter rural areas. Young artsy types, scholars, university students, migrant workers and other returning makers are exploring with passion...
Much of rural construction is rooted in ancient villages. Ancient buildings are especially precious; even broken bricks and tiles have a long history. Development should be carried out through protection, and protection through development, striving to repair the old as old and avoiding large-scale demolition and construction.
For the protection of ancient villages, it is essential to maintain an antique, rustic, fragrant and ancient appearance, keep the overall style consistent, and avoid any sense of cultural confusion.
The production methods, living customs, ethnic traditions and traditional festivals formed over thousands of years of accumulated farming culture constitute the unique cultural characteristics of rural areas, containing history, stories, charm and customs.
I suggest that rural development and construction should be customized, rather than standardized, normalized and patterned. Pursue harmony between people and nature, and avoid arbitrarily reshaping rural landscapes or deliberately creating labor scenes. Rural development should proceed from actual rural conditions, follow the laws of rural development itself, and fully bring out rural areas' local flavor, original ecology and regional characteristics, aiming for "one village, one product" or "one village, one specialty." Village officials, do not come back from sightseeing-style inspections elsewhere or abroad and immediately start large-scale demolition, construction and imitation, recklessly destroying ecological vegetation. For rural construction, it is necessary to invite professional planning and design institutes to plan and build protectively according to local conditions. If things continue like this, forget becoming a luxury in 30 years -- it will already be good if it does not become a counterfeit. Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets...
"The plain and innocent rustic flavor, rural scenes deeply marked by the times, the green mountains and clear waters bestowed by nature, and nostalgia for childhood memories that can be found everywhere." This may be the ideal "countryside" in everyone's heart. This is the true luxury...