Jointly Creating Sustainable Rural Communities through Participatory Planning: A Case Study of Fengqing County, China

Rural communities have long been overlooked since globalization and urbanization struck traditional rural values. Building a sustainable rural community has become a contested issue in academia, especially after implementing the Rural Revival Strategy. This research attempted to establish a participatory planning approach, which considers rural planners as the external impetus and local villagers as an internal driving force, to promote the sustainability of rural communities. Carrying on the theoretical framework of public participation, the researchers carried out a pilot practice in Hongtang Village, Yunan Province, China, where planners tried to reestablish the social relationship in a village by designing and building a rural yard. We do not solely finish the design, but also advocate, communicate, and work with villagers to activate the vitality of the village. The research argues that the focus of rural planning and construction in China is to develop a participatory planning approach, which is human-oriented and place-based. Planners, acting as an external impetus, advocate public participation in the whole planning process, including mapping, designing, constructing, and managing. We try to empower villagers themselves rather than impose. During this participatory planning process, villagers improve the quality of their settlements through continuous dialogue and cooperation, and the social relationships among them become enhanced. Thus, rural communities are restructuring in both environmental and social dimensions to promote rural sustainability. Additionally, participatory planning in rural areas is constantly correcting itself to be more local, scientific, and rational and become a more powerful protector and promoter of public interests in this process.