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.
Highlights
Peri-urban villages are faced with the pressures of urbanization and the need to preserve agriculture [1]
By illustrating the features of Pu’an village and our methodology, we explored the process of defining the bulrush as a rural cultural symbol in rural planning
A careful analysis of culture-led rural planning showed that it was different from industry-oriented planning, as it further utilizes the natural landscape and cultural resources related to the local identity of the village
Summary
Peri-urban villages are faced with the pressures of urbanization and the need to preserve agriculture [1]. With the diversified demands of economic, social, and ecological development, a high degree of agricultural diversification is commonly acknowledged in peri-urban rural planning [4,5,6,7,8]. In 2013, the central government put forward the idea of “promoting the construction of rural ecological civilization, and striving to build beautiful villages” [15]. Guided by this idea, the construction project of “Beautiful Villages” (in Chinese: “Zhongguo meili xiangcun”), one of the most important components of the “Beautiful China” concept, aims to develop and enhance production, improve standards of living and rural civilization, create a clean and tidy environment, and promote democratic management [16,17]. Faced with rapid urbanization and advanced modernization, it is essential and urgent for rural planners to construct a guideline for nurturing rural culture and customs in peri-urban villages
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