Eco-social futures: rethinking urban-rural communities in China

How can the design of urban-rural fringe communities, informed by multiple social and ecological challenges, create a pathway toward sustainable development? This paper addresses the question above by proposing an urban design studio focusing on the urban fringe of a mega city in China. The objective of the studio is to cultivate a design that supports knowledge development. Students developed masterplans that rethink the urban-rural relationship of urban fringe in a mega city, a context that provides challenges and opportunities for innovative approaches. The projects proposed forms of community engagement between farming, businesses, and learning facilities. The design studio tasks, and the open discussion of these outcomes will evoke our awareness of problems existing in community development in urban-rural fringe of contemporary China and call for more sensitive solutions for the future development.