An attempt to open up a new path of rural development? rural transformational development under the characteristic town strategy in China

ABSTRACT

The global decline in rural areas has made rural transformational development a subject of significant interest. The Characteristic Town (CT) strategy, a prominent aspect of China’s recent urbanization efforts, focuses on innovative development methods to promote coordinated urban-rural growth and enhance capacity and quality. However, the mechanisms through which this strategy facilitates potential rural transformational development have not yet been investigated. This study addresses this gap by employing a case study approach, using desk research, participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. The findings indicate that environmental transformation, achieved through targeted planning, design, and construction, is a prerequisite for the CT strategy to stimulate rural transformational development. Subsequently, economic transformation is a crucial step, which includes establishing a sustainable and systematic economic industrial system, local marketing and promotion, and facilitating private sector participation. The strategy also generates social effects, such as a modest improvement in living standards, a lack of public participation, changes in residents’ self-identity, and potential social estrangement between residents and newcomers. The rural transformational development driven by the CT strategy represents a process of creative destruction that progresses quickly, necessitating the consideration of various countermeasures.

KEYWORDS:

• Rural transformational development
• Characteristic Town
• sustainable transition
• creative destruction
• Zhejiang
• China

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank all those who helped in the research process, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their support, valuable comments, and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2024.2352131

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Project Scientific Research Fund of Zhejiang Provincial Education Department [Y202351341]; SEUT Grant for International Students, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo.