Small Settlements in China – Heritage, Forms, and Counterstories
Glossy images of China’s historic villages, with their fairytale architecture, refined decorations and evocative agrarian landscapes, have captivated many observers. These images seem to suggest that a prodigious rediscovery has recently taken place in China. Many remote rural settlements that have remained largely unknown and unchanged for centuries have now been placed on the country's map and opened up to visitors. This ‘rediscovery’ has sparked a surge of interest in the countryside and the rural origins of Chinese culture and society across the country (and beyond).
While this representation contains some truth, it obscures the elaborate set of policies and mechanisms that have driven this revaluation, as well as the spatial reconfigurations and socio-cultural processes that have been mobilised in the process.
This book explores this background. It surveys Chinese historical villages, their settlement patterns and planning measures, unveiling their recent transformations. Based on years of research and fieldwork in China's inland and rural regions, the book examines over 30 historic villages. Using original maps and photographs, it unfolds the cumulative impact of the various policies that have shaped China's rural environment and informed the national narrative over the past twenty years.
Published by
ListLab (February 2026)
Author
Dr. Anna-Paola Pola
Language
English
Format
168 pages available in print and digital versions
ISBN
9788832080742
