The Regeneration and Sharing of a Country of Farmers

China is a country of farmers. Over the past five thousand years agricultural
population in China has taken 97% of the total, until 2011, when this figure
slid to 50.3%. However, relevant data (United Nations 2012) show that
dwellers in rural areas will be decreased to 27.1% by 2050. Rural areas should
not just simply be "urbanized". We have to be fully aware of the changes
countryside is right not experiencing: changes of population structure ( young
people are leaving their houses empty in the rural areas and having old people
stay, whether alone or not), changes of industrial structure (transition from
simple production space to a complex consumption space), and the changes of
life and production spaces (traditional customs vs. modern way of life).
A collateral event to the Venice Biennial, named Sharing & Regeneration, set up
a special Rural Sector, aiming at the challenges Chinese countryside is right now
facing in the development and preservation of the rural areas, discussing the
possibilities of the revival of the countryside, and exploring the tools needed for
the rural regeneration: Rural revival could be beyond life, rural revival could
be beyond technology, rural revival could be beyond eco-environment, rural
revival could be beyond design, rural revival could be beyond category, rural
revival could be beyond reality.
We should redefine the social implications designers have. Especially when
we are experiencing a global economic slow-down, and China's city building
campaign is in a standstill. Emerging countryside regeneration projects are
providing new opportunities for Chinese designers, not only for the sake of
design, but also for the sake of social responsibilities.