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Abstract
Driven by economic motives, current engineering-oriented rural development in China has led to the demolition of indigenous infrastructural systems with cultural, ecological and social significance. This paper focuses on Hengcha Village and its water infrastructure, using a design-oriented method to tackle two pivotal questions: What values and knowledge can be extracted and assimilated from local water infrastructure, such as that of Hengcha, and how can such indigenous knowledge enhance the future practice of water infrastructure and development? Drawing upon the insights gained from investigating the development trajectory and working mechanism of the indigenous water infrastructure in Hengcha, a series of design proposals has been developed to explore different ways of integrating indigenous water infrastructures into future development and offer alternatives to engineering-oriented methods. The findings of the research highlight the importance of considering indigenous infrastructure as both environmental and social heritage and shedding new light on a more inclusive and localized approach to water infrastructure development in rural China and beyond.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Program of Art of National Social Science Fund of China, 2020 (No. 20BG139). We would like to thank Zhenghao Liu and Mengping Yu for their work on visualizing some of our research works, as well as the Department of Landscape Architecture at China Academy of Art.
Disclosure statement
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
Notes
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Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ying Zeng
Ying Zeng is a professor of Landscape Architecture at the China Academy of Art, where he serves as associate dean of the School of Architecture. His teaching and research focus on vernacular landscape, sustainable design and landscape urbanism.
Chenhao Zhu
Chenhao Zhu is a researcher in urban design and development at MIT. His research focuses on environmental and mobility-related issues in contemporary urbanization at various scales.
Boqian Xu
Boqian Xu is an assistant professor from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University. His research focuses on Ecocities, Ecological Footprint, and Geo-design.
Zhongjie Lin
Zhongjie Lin (corresponding author) is an associate professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, where he heads the Urban Design concentration. His teaching and research focus on urban design, planning history, Asian cities and avant-garde architecture.