Known as the “Home of the Overseas Chinese”,
Taishan is the origin of more than 1 million descendants diffused across the globe. Historically, these transnational networks helped fuel the growth of a rural region that is idiosyncratically cosmopolitan. Taishan commons was deeply sustained by the shared customs of ancestral clanship and cosmology principles. The stability and longevity of this commons served not only as the spiritual connector but also as a framework for collective socioeconomic mobility.
In the last century however, this part of the countryside has failed to abate its decline. Its aging population is matched by an equally decaying architectural fabric. Meanwhile, the massive Taishanese diaspora continues to flourish in larger cities nearby and abroad. Its current stagnation belies its cosmopolitan origins. The region’s heyday was, in a sense, the very catalyst of its decline - the migration of residents was accompanied by economic and social opportunities. Familial ties and social organizations that once shaped the region spatially and politically have fallen apart.
With China experiencing its current post-industrial transition, recent migratory patterns show people returning to the countryside to participate in a self-initiated creative economy. In this context, rurality is becoming more heterogeneous and malleable, with varied and contradictory parts, forming a new social construct that is open to cultural difference and fosters global consciousness. The research aims to demonstrate the existing social governance as an unbroken lineage that continues to reconcile the shifting values and interests of people and conflicts over the course of time.
New ideas about revitalization, including regional town centers and tourism economies are pushed forward as models to save these regions economically, but they all too often disregard cultural spatial patterns, historical landscape patterns, and individual or community choice. This project seeks to investigate Taishan as a site for rural futures and new commons. Its agenda, rather than transposing urban solutions for rural territories, is to investigate and imagine alternatives to business-as-usual development in the countryside.
Taishan is the origin of more than 1 million descendants diffused across the globe. Historically, these transnational networks helped fuel the growth of a rural region that is idiosyncratically cosmopolitan. Taishan commons was deeply sustained by the shared customs of ancestral clanship and cosmology principles. The stability and longevity of this commons served not only as the spiritual connector but also as a framework for collective socioeconomic mobility.
In the last century however, this part of the countryside has failed to abate its decline. Its aging population is matched by an equally decaying architectural fabric. Meanwhile, the massive Taishanese diaspora continues to flourish in larger cities nearby and abroad. Its current stagnation belies its cosmopolitan origins. The region’s heyday was, in a sense, the very catalyst of its decline - the migration of residents was accompanied by economic and social opportunities. Familial ties and social organizations that once shaped the region spatially and politically have fallen apart.
With China experiencing its current post-industrial transition, recent migratory patterns show people returning to the countryside to participate in a self-initiated creative economy. In this context, rurality is becoming more heterogeneous and malleable, with varied and contradictory parts, forming a new social construct that is open to cultural difference and fosters global consciousness. The research aims to demonstrate the existing social governance as an unbroken lineage that continues to reconcile the shifting values and interests of people and conflicts over the course of time.
New ideas about revitalization, including regional town centers and tourism economies are pushed forward as models to save these regions economically, but they all too often disregard cultural spatial patterns, historical landscape patterns, and individual or community choice. This project seeks to investigate Taishan as a site for rural futures and new commons. Its agenda, rather than transposing urban solutions for rural territories, is to investigate and imagine alternatives to business-as-usual development in the countryside.
素有“华侨之乡”的美誉，
台山是偏布全球一百多万旅居海外后裔的发源地。时至今日，该地区有约六千万后代遍布全球。长期以来，这种跨国迁移推动了一个独特的国际化农村地区的发展。多样的文化，经济，自然生态网构建了当地独特的社会治理体系，并映射于其社群文化。稳定和长寿的社群不仅是当地的精神纽带，而且是集体社会经济流动的催化剂。
台山是偏布全球一百多万旅居海外后裔的发源地。时至今日，该地区有约六千万后代遍布全球。长期以来，这种跨国迁移推动了一个独特的国际化农村地区的发展。多样的文化，经济，自然生态网构建了当地独特的社会治理体系，并映射于其社群文化。稳定和长寿的社群不仅是当地的精神纽带，而且是集体社会经济流动的催化剂。
然而，半个世纪以来，台山乡村地区不可避免地衰落了—人口老龄化与其建筑结构的腐化都在逐渐加剧。但与此同时，大量的台山人继续在周边和国外的大城市蓬勃发展。由此导致此地区目前的经济停滞，未能延续其繁盛且国际化的起源。从某种意义上说，促使该地区鼎盛发展的机遇也是其衰落的催化剂—跨国运动的参与者在外界获得了经济机会，但这也迫使他们远离了台山。
当下，应顺着中国整体的后工业化转型，最近的移民模式表明人们正返回农村并自发性的以新颖的“创造型经济形式”参与着农村复兴。 在这种背景下，乡村的流动性增强，变得更加多样化，并形成了对文化差异更加开放的社会结构。本项目的研究旨在展示台山的社会治理是与其社群传承和其居民不断融合重整的利益导向与价值观密不可分的。
由于其在农村经济复苏的直接效果，整合区域城镇中心和规划旅游经济等经济手段，常常被作为拯救这些地区的最优模式。然而，乡村的文化、历史、景观、及现有的家庭和社区价值观却常常在乡村振兴的过程中被忽略。“台山社会”望能同时探索乡村文化的传承和乡村经济的发展。乡村振兴不应是将城市型解决方案强加于农村地区，而是探索出具有本地特色的可持续性乡村发展方案。
Taishan sits west of the Pearl River Delta, and thus is inextricably tied to that regional prowess,
and increasingly is seeing a westward march of transit and development. Historically, its waterways and Delta ports provided the opportunity for immigration and international trade.
In the region, the dominant role of society was agrarian, and in recent years has included manufacturing, production, and refinement in other industries. The region is in a low-lying valley, crossed by abundant streams its landscape is often flooded, but also ripe for nutrient extraction. Dotted between massive swaths of rice and eel farms are the traditional farm villages, and secondarily market villages. Traditionally these villages, each beholden to a clan, formed a web of catchment areas and agricultural specialty.
Today, new transit corridors, and urban development is attempting to agglomerate the population and provide services and jobs more efficiently. Half-empty farm villages are decaying as the original inhabitants have moved to regional cities or abroad. Disinvestment in the local architecture and urban fabric have led to the precarious situation where many of the structures are reaching their lifetime of structural stability. While some regional tourism projects have generated significant incomes for surrounding inhabitants, they have also evicted the original inhabitants and come at a great cost to familial heritage and property rights. The future of this region can not sustain life as it was, but the erasure or disnification of select sites is also untenable. A new commons must be constituted in order to rethink social connections and urban patterns of living.
and increasingly is seeing a westward march of transit and development. Historically, its waterways and Delta ports provided the opportunity for immigration and international trade.
In the region, the dominant role of society was agrarian, and in recent years has included manufacturing, production, and refinement in other industries. The region is in a low-lying valley, crossed by abundant streams its landscape is often flooded, but also ripe for nutrient extraction. Dotted between massive swaths of rice and eel farms are the traditional farm villages, and secondarily market villages. Traditionally these villages, each beholden to a clan, formed a web of catchment areas and agricultural specialty.
Today, new transit corridors, and urban development is attempting to agglomerate the population and provide services and jobs more efficiently. Half-empty farm villages are decaying as the original inhabitants have moved to regional cities or abroad. Disinvestment in the local architecture and urban fabric have led to the precarious situation where many of the structures are reaching their lifetime of structural stability. While some regional tourism projects have generated significant incomes for surrounding inhabitants, they have also evicted the original inhabitants and come at a great cost to familial heritage and property rights. The future of this region can not sustain life as it was, but the erasure or disnification of select sites is also untenable. A new commons must be constituted in order to rethink social connections and urban patterns of living.
台山位于珠江三角洲以西，可借力于三角洲的经济发展
历史上，它与珠江三角洲港口串联的水道为移民和国际贸易提供了机会。此地区的主要产业是农业，但近年来也出现了制造、生产和精炼等其他产业。此地区地处低洼山谷，溪流纵横交错，尽管土地肥沃，但也常有不可避免的水涝之灾。传统的农庄和集市村散布在大片的稻田和鳝鱼养殖场之间。这些村庄各自属于一个宗族，形成了一个由河流流域和不同的农业产物组成特色的农业生态网和聚落社群结构。
历史上，它与珠江三角洲港口串联的水道为移民和国际贸易提供了机会。此地区的主要产业是农业，但近年来也出现了制造、生产和精炼等其他产业。此地区地处低洼山谷，溪流纵横交错，尽管土地肥沃，但也常有不可避免的水涝之灾。传统的农庄和集市村散布在大片的稻田和鳝鱼养殖场之间。这些村庄各自属于一个宗族，形成了一个由河流流域和不同的农业产物组成特色的农业生态网和聚落社群结构。
今天，新的交通走廊和城市发展正试图整合散落的乡村人口，以便更有效地提升基础设施和提供就业机会。由于大量的原始居民移居海外或其他大城市，超过半数的农田已经闲置，农村变得空空荡荡，无力遏制衰败。资金的缺乏和对当地风土建筑保护的忽视导致了一种危险的局面，许多建筑的结构已经年久失修。虽然一些区域旅游项目为周围居民带来了可观的收入，但它们也驱逐了某些地区原来的居民。更甚之，原住民被动地迁离对台山当地社群文化的传承和居民沿袭产权的更迭产生了负面影响。
二十一世纪是城市快速发展的时代，但是这种发展却加剧了以台山为代表的一系列乡村地区的分解。如果台山想要应顺时代、发展为繁荣的新农村，其必需重新考虑当今社会与农村生活的关系，重构新乡村社群文化。
Taishan Commons is a multi-dimensional project that aims to elevate the region’s declining social governance while reconstituting the local power as the key stakeholder for rural development. Situated as both a research project and community resource, the platform seeks to record, analyse, and project into the future of Taishan Commons during its post-industrial transition.
Taishan Commons 是一个多维度的项目，旨在提升本地日益衰落的社会治理水平，同时重整地方力量，使其成为农村发展的关键利益相关者。作为一个研究项目和社区资源，此平台致力于记录、分析和预测“台山社会”在后工业时代的发展。
Taishan Commons 是一个多维度的项目，旨在提升本地日益衰落的社会治理水平，同时重整地方力量，使其成为农村发展的关键利益相关者。作为一个研究项目和社区资源，此平台致力于记录、分析和预测“台山社会”在后工业时代的发展。
Community
This section is a resource which catalogues community members who are actively engaged in the ongoing heritage & community production of Taishan.
This section is a resource which catalogues community members who are actively engaged in the ongoing heritage & community production of Taishan.
Research
This section houses the theoretical underpinnings with critical historical, policy, and spatial research in Taishan and surrounding areas. It is divided into the following sections:
︎ History
︎ Rural Policy
︎ Spatial Politics
︎ Heritage
This section houses the theoretical underpinnings with critical historical, policy, and spatial research in Taishan and surrounding areas. It is divided into the following sections:
︎ History
︎ Rural Policy
︎ Spatial Politics
︎ Heritage
Futures
This section houses five student group projects from the Harvard GSD Spring 2020 studio “Taishan: Designing the Rural Cosmopolis in China” studio. Each project engages in research & imaginary futures using tourism as a catalyst for rural development.
This section houses five student group projects from the Harvard GSD Spring 2020 studio “Taishan: Designing the Rural Cosmopolis in China” studio. Each project engages in research & imaginary futures using tourism as a catalyst for rural development.