From the Classroom to the Countryside: Education as a Means of Rural Revitalisation in China. A Critical Review from the Perspective of the Self-Governance

The introduction of the hukou (户口) or household registration system, divided China into two distinct zones: urban and rural. Since the 1980s, the shift from traditional agriculture to market-driven industries has widened the gap between cities and the countryside. In response, the government has launched a series of policies designed to send urban professionals to rural areas in an effort to reduce these growing socio-economic disparities. This thesis explores how, in the context of the development of Chinese urban-rural integration, the central government, urban architects and planning professionals have redefined rural transformation through a series of poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation policies. The study examines several key shifts: the transition in village governance from “villagers’ self-governance” to “strengthening grassroots governance through Chinese Communist Party leadership”; the transformation of rural industries from agriculture to education and cultural tourism; and the changes to the functions of different spaces and the appearance of rural settlements and architecture. The thesis argues that the reconstruction and preservation of vernacular architecture, often for tourism consumption, has been instrumentalised largely to alleviate rural poverty and as part of revitalisation plans. However, while the symbolic reinterpretation of Chinese traditional and vernacular architecture has been used for study tours, in most villages, educational tourism has failed to socially and economically benefit locals. Moreover, highly politicised, symbolic and ideological “cultural products” have destructively reshaped villages as they are fundamentally disconnected from the lived realities and everyday practices of villagers. Using these problems as a starting point, this thesis reconsiders the role and approach of urban architects and design professionals in rural construction to critically re-evaluate the institutionalised zizhi/self-governance model applied in the countryside.