Chongming-Recultivation_Thesis_Xiaoran Zhang

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Chongming Recultivation

Chongming Island Rural Cooperative Commoning System Research and Design

Xiaoran Zhang May 2021

Advised by: Stefan Gruber Jonathan Kline

Master of Urban Design Thesis School of Architecture Carnegie Mellon University

Chongming R

Chongming Island Rural Cooperative Co

Recultiation

ommoning System Research and Design

ABSTRACT Villages in China are under transformation. As urbanization grows fast since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, urban-rural imbalance is being enlarged. Because of the establishment of opening policy and fast-paced industrialization in the 1980s, the social and economic forms of China have been undergoing tremendous changes. As industrialized agriculture is taking over villages, a lot of Chinese farmers are detached from their land and cultivation skills, while the domestic agriculture was the unique representative of their collective identity. Many villagers migrate to cities to work for a living, even though most of them cannot enjoy as many rights and resources as urban dwellers. At the same time, the village ecosystem is becoming vulnerable due to over-exploitation.

With a long history of cultivation culture, Chongming Island is a major food producer and provider for Shanghai. On the other hand, this island is famous for its accessible location and livable ecology environment and is planned as an international eco island. However, villages on Chongming Island are gradually losing a complete social network and collective identities: as traditional domestic agriculture is no longer a selfsufficient economy, many villagers no longer work as farmers and migrate to the city to make a living. As younger generations work in the city, many Chongming villages become hollowing and aging. The social issue existing in Chongming villages is a typical reflection of the growing gap between urbanization and rural development in China. i

Eco Farm on Chongming Island Credit to Niuchen Shi

From both economic and social perspectives, the top-down decision making of urbanization development is threatening the localized economy in village communities. The unsustainability not only exists in the domestic farming system, but the social structure in villages as well. As over half of Chinese population still lives in villages, the regeneration of localized economy and self-organized communities is imperative for villages’ transition to a more sustainable future in China.

The thesis Chongming Recultivation selects Chongming Island as a model to explore the possibility of reshaping cooperative based village communities through bottom-up commoning practices. By reviewing the evolution of village community’s socio-physical changes at different stages of development in China and exploring emerging involvement opportunities into village community reformation, the proposal focuses on how commoning-based urban design can intervene into diverse forms of localized economy in village communities. By stressing the importance of actors’ interaction within the transition system, the thesis focuses on exploring structural typology and bottom-up participation in changing villages’ physical and social environment. Through developing various scenarios, it builds up models for a knowledge and skill sharing system in a localized and self-organized economy for Chinese villages.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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Throughout my whole year of research on my thesis during pandemic, I have received a lot of help and support. Here I would like to express my gratitude to all of the support, without which I cannot reach here with my thesis today.

I would like to thank all professors and lecturers in Carnegie Mellon University School of Architect for the education and instruction for the two years. I would like to give my special gratitude to my thesis advisor Professor Stefan Gruber and Jonathan Kline, who unconditionally provided me help, instruction and inspiration during the whole year.

I would also thank Tongji University College of Design and Innovation and residents from Chongming Island that actively engaged in my interviews and shared a lot of helpful information during my site research. Without your support I cannot have such comprehensive understanding of the Chongming Island status and existing framework concept.

Thanks to all of my classmates in Commoning the City Studio: Bingjie, Cassie, Clover, Harvest, Longney, Sameedha, Sharleen, Yashasvi and Yiya. I am lucky to be part of the big family with so many joy and warmth during the difficult year, that always reminds me I am not alone even work and study from home.

Lastly but most importantly, I would like to express my most gratitude to my parents and family. Thank you for raising me up and always give full support and enough space on my way exploring and pursuing my future career. Without you I cannot be who I am today.

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Night Scene of Chongming Farmland Theatre

Credit to Saiping Yang

Table of Content ABSTRACT

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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BACKGROUND

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A System Emerging with Farming Culture The Enlarged Urban-rural Development Gap Existing Imbalances

URBAN MILIEU: CHONGMING, SHANGHAI

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Urban Milieu: Chongming, Shanghai Village Context: Innovation Existing in Tradition Village Context: Communal And Self-dependence Commoning Framework as a Way of Empowerment The Landscape of the Island A Typical Landscape to Intervene

COMMONING CONCEPT & VISION

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Commoning Concept Cards Case Study: Yoshino Cedar House Case Study: R-Urban Interviews: A Story of the Village A Collage of Future Vision

RECULTIVATION COOPERATIVE FRAMEWORK

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Recultivation Cooperative Framework Rebalanced Triangle & Programs Intervention Typology System Change Under Intervention

RECULTIVATION SCENARIOS

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Three Intervention Sites Intervention Methodology Cultivation & Exchange Community Co-creation Green Education and Industry

CONCLUSION

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REFERENCES

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Background

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A System Emerging with Farming Culture

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The culture of farming in rural China is rooted in the history of traditional cultivation system. Just like the way Chinese character “geng”(cultivation) is composed, cultivation requires the land and tool, and is closely connected to people that utilize them to produce, which forms a strong sense of self-organized community.

Based on traditional form of Chinese cultivation system, it explores a future model of self-organized, cooperative-based urban-rural community system that can support a healthier growth with greener economy, shareable resources and human-nature harmony.

In the hypothesis of Urban Re-cultivation, there is a future where: • A more dynamic urban-rural migration pattern appears between city and village based on a suburban village co-housing pattern.

• Regeneration of collective economy and green industry happening to reconstruct a more stable localized economy system.

• A healthy market that encourages co-creation and shared economy rather than resource monopoly and competition.

Yinzhen Plowing and Weaving Atlas

Source: https://www.dpm.org.cn/collection/paint/231818.html

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Chinese Urban-rural Migration Pattern and Income Gap Map Data Source: https://ls.chiculture.org.hk/tc/reform-info/181

5 Villager Great Migration

Economy Reformation and Opening Policy Proposed

People’s Commune Movement

Land Reformation

Foundation of People’s Republic of China

Village Hollowing and Aging

The Enlarged Urban-rural Development Gap

Urban-rural Income Gap

The Chinese urban-rural imbalance is being enlarged since the People’s Republic of China was founded. Before 1978, the vast rural region was the development center of China. As the industrialization and opening policy moved forward, the economy development was largely transitioned to cities. This accelerated the huge migration from urban to rural - young people are moving to cities due to the increase of work opportunities.

As the migration continued, villages are becoming aging and hollowing, which causes unsustainability of the rural communities.

There was no enough labor to manage and cultivate the farmland, which caused the deterioration of the farmland and village ecosystem. Therefore, villagers can no longer depend on domestic agriculture to make a living, and are segregated due to the remote location from city center.

Today, the transition of rural community is becoming imperative, seen as an approach of re-balancing the urban-rural development.

However, both governments and communities are still on their way exploring a right pathway for a sustainable transition.

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Existing Imbalances

Source: https://kknews.cc/agriculture/6lrz39v.html

As Chinese urban-rural pattern is under change, the gaps are enlarged, therefore formed existing social. economic and environmental imbalances in rural area. There are three major imbalances that is leading to the unsustainability of villages today: 1. Migration Enlarges Imbalance. More and more villagers are leaving the villages, seeking job opportunities in cities, but can never enjoy the rights and resources as same as urban dwellers.

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Source: https://chinadialogue.net/zh/7/42664/

Source: hhttps://news.un.org/zh/story/2018/12/1024301

2. Industrialization Invades Nature. Due to the development of massive industrialized agriculture production, domestic farms can hardly make enough income to support themselves are segregated from production chain.

Villagers are no longer collective economy contributors. Instead, they sell the farmland and work for factories as workers.

3. Over-Consumption Exploits Resources. As existing market is exploiting the natural resources, the farmland is deteriorating. Furthermore, the health concerns and deteriorating rural environment are becoming obvious.

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As the conflicts and gaps imperative to make a cha villages. By proposing a c based community model an opportunity for sharab community identity and g

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s is growing, it is ange for Chinese cooperativel, it provides ble resources, greener economy.

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URBAN MILIEU: CHONGMING, SHANGHAI

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Haimen

Shan 13

Qidong

nghai

Urban Milieu: Chongming, Shanghai Chongming Island

Chongming Island is located in the Yangtze River Delta Area in China, playing an important role as a food producer and provider with 2 hours driving distance from Shanghai, the metropolitan in China.

The island has a complete ecosystem and is expanding as time goes. Due to the independent location and well-developed irrigation system, the island has mostly preserved its original landscape pattern.

Within the metropolitan area, there are three municipal areas existing cities including Shanghai and some county-level cities such as Haimen and Qidong, planned towns and administrative villages that are located on the island. Under such municipal administrative system, the Chongming Island is playing a role as a connector between cities, which creates an opportunity for its development.

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Life in Xianqiao Village, Chongming Island

Credit to Design Harvest

Chuntingpumen Eco Farm in Chenjia Town

Typical image of a village in Yangtze Delta

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Credit to

Credit to D

o Saiping Yang

Village Context:

Innovation Existing in Tradition Because Chongming Island’s independent location, even though there are tremendous development happening on the island, a lot of villages still preserve traditional cultivation culture and social networks.

In most villages, households are still closely related to the farmland, and villagers are still living the communal life they share the public spaces and infrastructures and work together. This collective form of everyday life is a type of self-dependence based on resource sharing.

Furthermore, there are existing cooperatives indicating the innovative practice of commoning in rural area. In Xianqiao Village and Chenjia Town on the east side on Chongming Island, some farmers are running ecological farms that not only grow and provide organic foods, but also provides a variety of activities and events that engage visitors and tourists to experience and participate into the cultivation and harvest process.

In between traditional and innovative lifestyle, Chongming Island is facing the opportunity of being revitalized as a new form of cooperative that can grow and proliferate based on skills and resource sharing, greener production industry and short distance tourism. This opportunity on one side, can explore the potential of local culture and resources, on the other side, can attract population back to the villages.

Design Harvest

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Household Grow

Sell in market in the town center 1 quarter of acre farmland

Produce Gatherer

Gather soy grown by families and sell to town tofu producers RMB 15,000 ($2350) per year

Local Growing Association

They work for local government to plant and harvest 1 quarter of acre/family member

Construction Team

Workers hired by local government to build bridges and roads.

RMB 40-50($6-8) per day.

Data and Photo Source: Design Harvest

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Seasonal Kitchen Operate for 20 days in January 1 cake/half an hour 20 cakes/day

Village Context:

Communal And Self-dependence Based on the survey and illustration Design Harvest did in Xianqiao Village, Chongming, A picture is drawn to depict the communal and self-dependent lifestyle in the villages.

Pig Farm Owner

Sell pigs Up to RMB 870 ($130) /50 kg and raises on average 200 pigs per year

As we can see from the illustration Most of current villagers are elderly and workers. They are living self-sufficiently while only receive meager income. Through domestic ways of production and interaction, the villagers are living in a form of communal living an production village social and economy system.

The social network on Chongming Island today still looks similar to the traditional rural communities in China, which is closely related to the well-field system formed in ancient China.

Basket Weaver

Makes baskets and containers out of bamboo RMB 10($1.3) each

Well-field System Beekeeper

Honey sold to local residents 500-600 jars per year.

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Source: htt

Diagram of Well-field System

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Diagram of Commoning System

tps://www.nanmuxuan.com/complex/hfyxyggxvhb.html

Commoning Framework as a Way of Empowerment From well-field system, we can see both where people live and work between public and private lands. The diagram provides a well-field model that has a clear division of public and private lands.

In the well-field system, one entire land is separated into 9 subdivided units. The central unit is public land, where villagers have to work together on the farmland and hand all harvest to feudal monarch. The rest 8 units are private land(villagers only have the rights of use), where villagers can live and harvest whatever they grow.

Even though the well-field policy was a tool for feudal monarch governance in earlier dynasties such as Shang and Zhou Dynasty, later in Song Dynasty, the famous thinker, Zhang Zai, proposed that such a system can empower villagers through transitioning land ownership to households and enabling free land transaction.

As the concept of well-system changed, it actually forms a system that empowers people rather than controlling. The public unit can be re-translated as a form of commons, where communal ways of lifestyle exist, and farmers can have more power over what they produce, maintain and share as a new form of collective.

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The Landscape of the Island

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Village Pattern of Sanxing

A Typical Landscape to Intervene The landscape of Chongming Island is a mixture of various nature and human-made pattern, including natural reserves, larger-scale farming area, villages and domestic farms, and towns. There is a typical consistent pattern of villages at the central area of the island, most of which is well preserved as a traditional fabric of villages and farmlands.

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Village Pattern

Town

In order to explore in depth into the intervention structures, a typical village community pattern is selected to be intervened. The pattern is located on the northwest of the island and belongs to Sanxing Town, where a completed village social and farming system exist, which can be intervened as a cooperative model.

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COMMONING CONCEPT & VISION

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Commoning Concept Cards Commoning concept card is a toolkit that developed by students from Commoning the City Studio to introduce or reference in commoning thesis research. There are four concepts referenced in thesis Chongming Recultivation: 1. Cosmopolitan Localism is a social innovation approach to community development that seeks to link local and global communities through resilient infrastructures that bring production and consumption closer together, building on distributed systems.

2. Transition Initiative is grassroots community project that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability.

3. Eco-village is community-driven endeavor that is designed through participatory processes in social, cultural, ecological and economical practices to regenerate social and natural environments.

4. Cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise”.

Based on the four concepts, I proposed a self-organized, eco-friendly and bottom-up cooperative as a form of village communities existing on Chongming Island.

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Credit by Yidan Gong

Case Study: Yoshino Cedar House The Yoshino Cedar House is a first of a kind project that explores how sharing, architecture and culture can revitalize rural communities. The home began as a collaboration between Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Japanese architect Go Hasegawa, and the residents of Yoshino, a small town nestled in the mountains of Nara. By bringing together modern technology, community-centric design, and culturally significant craftsmanship we looked to create a deeper relationship between travelers and the communities they visit.1 What can be referenced for Recultivation Cooperative is how tourism and co-housing project can positively build up localized economy and increase the identity of village communities based on the interaction between village hosts and tourists. At the same time, more local resources can be utilized and shared among different groups of people.

1.Yoshino Cedar House: https://www.yoshinocedarhouse.com/

Source: http://www.designcurial.com/news/yoshino-cedar-house-by-airbnb-and-go-hasegawa-5834132/

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Credit by Pure Zheng

Case Study: R-Urban R-Urban is a bottom-up strategy that explores the possibilities of enhancing the capacity of urban resilience by introducing a network of resident-run facilities to create complementaries between key fields of activity (economy, housing, urban agriculture, culture). R-Urban initiates locally closed ecological cycles that will support the emergence of alternative models of living, producing and consuming between the urban and the rural.1 What can be referenced for Recultivation Cooperative is how to build up sustainability by constructing a localized production-consumption cycle. A series community-based activities can be conducted on rural landscapes, promoting a new lifestyle among villagers and participants to live and consume locally. A circular economy will be formed based on localized resource-sharing and exchange.

1.R-Urban: http://r-urban.net/en/sample-page/ Source: http://www.designcurial.com/news/yoshino-cedar-house-by-airbnb-and-go-hasegawa-5834132/

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Village Planner

Local Villagers

Farm Designer

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Village Migrant

Offices Worker

Crafts People

Village Chef

Business Owner

New Farmer

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Urban Dwellers

Village Farmer

New Villagers

Interviews: A Story of the Village In recent years, there is emerging innovation framework existing in the Chongming Island. As the existance of a group of “New Farmers” - people who migrate from cities to villages and work as fulltime or part-time farmers, the pattern of Chongming villages has become more and more active. Due to the increasing events co-hosted by villagers and new farmers, more and more urban dwellers are attracted to the villages for touring and short-term stay, which provides opportunities for localized engagement into the emerging cooperatives.

Based on the existing framework on Chongming Island, to better hear the shared hopes and fears from different groups of people, interviews are conducted with three major groups of actors, including urban dwellers, local villagers and new villagers.

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Crafts People

“I AM HAPPY TO TEACH PEOPLE TRADITIONAL CRAFT SKILLS”

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Business Owner

“ I HOPE MY BUSINESS TO BE SUPPORTED”

Local Villagers

r

Village Farmer

“RUNNING OUR FAMILY FARM IS NOT EASY TODAY”

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Village Planner

“THE INDUSTRY PLANNING IS IMPORTANT FOR VILLAGES”

Offices Worker

“I HOPE TO FIND A PLACE IN THE VILLAGE TO STAY AND RELAX OUTSIDE MY STRESSFUL WORK ” 37

Urban Dwellers

“LEAVING MY HOMETOWN AND MAKING A LIVING IN CITY IS NOT AN EASY THING”

Village Migrant 38

New Villagers

Farm Designer

“COOKING AND EATING WHATEVER I CAN HARVEST LOCALLY IS ENJOYABLE”

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Village Chef

“I HOPE TO USE MY PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO HELP THE FARMS TO SURVIVE AND GROW”

New Farmer

“CHOOSE TO LIVE AND ROOT IN THE VILLAGE IS A LIFESTYLE”

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A Collage of Future Vision

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Based on the concepts, cases and shared hope f resources and skill sharing system, circular econo

from stakeholders, a scenario of self-sufficient village cooperative is conceptualized, that builds up through localized omy and community-based social innovation programs.

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RECULTIVATION COOPERATIVE FRAMEWORK

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Recultivation Cooperative Framework

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Based on previous research and interviews, a future vision is constructed, leading to the proposal of Recultivation Cooperative Framework.

Recultivation Cooperative is a new form of community living-production system proposed to support the localized economy of Chongming villages based on skills and resources sharing, circular economy and regenerative sustainable system that not only recultivate farmlands and natural system, but local culture and community identity as well.

In the process of constructing Recultivation Cooperative Framework, there are three steps planned:

STEP 1: ROOT Rebuild localized social network based on existing villagers to form mutual support relationship.

STEP 2: CONNECT Connect design professionals and participants to village communities to promote urban-rural community interaction.

STEP 3: PROLIFERATE New villagers bring more social innovation projects to encourage more events and engagements.

1. Root. It means rebuilding the localized social network among the villagers to form mutual support and group as village community co-owners and co-hosts for community management and decision-making.

2. Connect. Through connecting planning and design professionals, the urban dwellers and migrate workers, the community can construct relationships with urban communities through different forms of economy such as CSA, potential employments and development projects.

3. Proliferate. The new villagers that are actively participating in the rural community innovation can encourage more events and engagement happening in the villages, which support the longer-term growth and sustainability of the villages.

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Rebalanced Triangle

Rebalanced Triangle & Programs The goal of the system change is built up based on rebalanced settlement triangle. Based on constructing a re-balanced model1, each commoning structure typology is formed differently by the three types of interventions: 1. Production Motivation.

Through interventions of increasing productivity and farmland utilization, villagers can take advantage of their tools and knowledge to collectively grow and exchange materials and culture. This helps promote the proliferation of a reconstructed domestic agriculture system.

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2. Collective identity. By inserting interventions for place-making and co-creation, the collectives can be formed, which enables the emergence of production-living cooperation.

This encourages the interaction among actors including villagers, tourists and artists and leads the bottom-up participation into village culture recultivation.

3. Regenerative sustainability.

The intervention of sustainability helps forming a regenerative ecosystem in villages. By developing a cultivation system based on the mixture of traditional growing methods and innovative industry practices, villages can rebalance the human-nature capacity and create a circular economy in community scale.

Rebalanced Triangle Programs

Data and Photo Source: Design Harvest

Based on the rebalanced triangle model, three types of programs are proposed in Reclutivation Cooperative Framework, in order to encourage the diverse forms of engagment into Chongming village communities, including Farmers Market & CSA(Community Supported Agriculture), Tour & Co-housing and Industries & Workshops.

The proposed programs will support active interactions among actors: Villagers are no longer merely residents and farmers, but hosts and educators as well. New farmers will help connect urban dwellers and villagers through events and activities. Urban dwellers can have more access to engage into village communities, and gain experiences of touring, learning and co-creating in villages.

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Intervention Typology The three intervention structural typologies can engage into a commoning system in Chongming villages.

By experimenting the rebalance system on a typical pattern in Sanxing Town, it both forms a recultivation system and multiple place-making scenarios.

GATHERING SPACE

RECREATIONAL SPACE

STORAGE AND ORGANIZING

REST AND DINING

Community Open Spaces

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REST SPACE

INFRASTRUCTURE

Cultivatio

The three structural typologies function as below: 1. Community open spaces that support diverse events and engagement in residential area.

2. Cultivation system that support mixed types of farming and plays as a model of regenerative sustainability.

3. Farming cooperation that encourage skill sharing and the spread of cultivation culture.

SHARED FACILITY

CULTIVATION TOOLS

on System

EDUCATIONAL SPACE

STORAGE

SHARED FACILITY

REST AND COMMUNICATION

Farming Cooperation

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System Change Under Intervention

Canal System Streets Houses and Buildings Forest Land Farmland Landscapes

0

100

250

500m

Before The village system is formed by natural system and residential system, including canal system, streets, houses and buildings, forest land, farmland and landscapes. There is no existing system that can manage existing natural resources and organize diverse types of community and cultivation activities.

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Neighborhood Committees Community Open Spaces Cultivation System Farming Cooperatives

0

100

250

500m

After Following the fabric of existing village system, three types of structural interventions can intervene into independent but interconnected systems that encourage the interaction among multiple residential and cultivation groups, which composes a resource-sharing and circular community system.

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MODELS AND SCENARIOS

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Three Intervention Sites The three intervention sited are chosen, where complicated context existing socially and physically on each of the sites.

Cultivation & Exchange

Community Co-creation

Green Education & Industry

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Intervention Methodology

The intervention methodology is based on the analysis of existing condition of sites and the exploration of opportu

Step 1: Understand Existing

Po

Unused Landscape

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unity zones that can be containers of the intervention structures.

oor Condition Housing

Poor Condition Factories

Abandoned Buildings

Landscape

Forest Land

Farmland

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Step 2: Explore Opportunity

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Opportunity Zones

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Step 3: Place the Intervention

Farmers Market

W C

Shared Warehouse Neighborhood Courtyard

Semi-open Stage

Corridor

Shared Warehouse

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Com O Cou

Workshop Courtyard Woodshop

Co-Housing Courtyard

Classroom

Green Industry Lab

mmittee Office urtyard Village Museum

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Cultivation & Exchange By building up farmers markets and gathering community spaces in villages, villagers can engage actively into a self-organized productionconsumption system. It not only builds up relations between human and nature, but creates a long-lasting self-dependent system in villages.

0

10

25

50m

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Harvest & Sell

Semiopen Stage

Extension

Corridor Gathering Corridor

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Farmers Market

Storage

Storage

Storage

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Community Co-creation By providing a cooperative housing model for village tourism, villagers can share living and communication spaces with tourists and artists.

The co-creation structure can strengthen the sense of community and proliferation of diverse village culture forms.

0

10

25

50m

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Neighbor -hood Yard Co-housing Courtyard

Co-creation Corridor

Community Committee

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Art Workshop

Co-manage

Rehab & Construct

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Green Education and Industry By experimenting with a mixture of various cultivation techniques, the model provides students and tourists educational experiences based on on-site classes, which includes the whole process of cultivation, traditional craft skills and creation of village arts.

0

10

25

50m

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Cultivation Class Site

Artwork Pr Cultivation Classroom

Raw Material

Woodshop

Rehab & Construct

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Village Museum

rovision

Planting Experiment Site

Green Industry Lab

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There is a recultivated fu

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uture for villages that..

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Form a localized production, consumption and exchange system

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Encourage co-creation based on shared living and production space

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Promote sustainability education and encourage greener economy and industry

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CONCLUSION

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“people (re)discover the power of collaboration to increase their capabilities, and how this (re)discovery gives rise to new forms of organization (collaborative organization) and new artifacts on which they base enabling solutions.”

-- Ezio Manzini

Urbanization has brought great development opportunities to China, as well as conflicts and gaps. As urban designers, we are not only designing for developments, but more importantly, for equity and justice. Village community, as the group being neglected during the urbanization process, should be empowered to make the change.

The concept of commoning provides me great inspiration on approaching to facilitate the bottom-up power of change. The Recultivation Cooperative is not only a model for village community’s system innovation, but a form of identity that empower the community to be self-organized and self-motivated. The designers, in the transition process, are not playing the role as decision makers, but facilitators and connectors instead. I hope that the villagers will use their hands and wisdom to design for their communities by themselves.

I always believe that the transition of rural community is a slow but meaningful process that takes generations of efforts. There are still a lot of barriers we are facing today: the lack of a comprehensive village database, the limited financial and educational support, the poverty and social injustice… However, we are always making a step forward. As there are more and more emerging bottom-up innovative power, a longer-term commitment will be needed from villagers, designers, new farmers, and anyone that are engaging into the social innovation of village communities in China. I believe that the Recultivation Cooperative framework will be a continuing research that I will devote in my future career.

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REFERENCES [1] Lou Yongqi, Francesca Valsecchi, Clarisa Diaz, Design Harvests: An Acupunctural Design Approach Towards Sustainability. A Mistra Urban Futures Publication, 2013.

[2] N. J. Habraken, The Structure of the Ordinary, The MIT Press, 1998.

[3] University of Arkansas Community Design Center, Fayetteville 2030: Food City Scenario, 2015 [4] Pier Vittorio Aureli, Emily Abruzzo, Sara Alajmi, Michelle Badr, Serena Ching, Ruchi Dattani, Changming Huang, Layla Ni, Luka Pajovic, David Schaengold, Xiaohui Wen, Kay Yang, Kitchen Sink Realism, Yale School of Architect, 2020 [5] Charles Stafford, Ellen R. Judd Eona Bell, Cooperation in Chinese Communities, Bloomsbury Publishing Pic, 2019 [6] Lizhou Fan, 宋代思想环境下张载对井田制的理解与提倡，Journal of Hubei University, 2018.

[7] Master Plan and General Land-use Plan of Chongming District, Shanghai, 2017-2035 [8] Yeast Lab, Introducing: Food Megacity: https://medium.com/yeastlab [9] Liao Yue, How Village Co-ops Are Remapping China’s Rural Communities: https://www. sixthtone.com/news/1004505/how-village-co-ops-are-remapping-chinas-rural-communities? fbclid=IwAR31cB1nYhBnTQ1fOHXf67XtXjdbnVFmYnhcgk9E0gLuPLBwejrHDzt6o9c

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gēng

Chongming Recultivation

Chongming Island Rural Cooperative Commoning System Research and Design

Xiaoran Zhang May 2021

Master of Urban Design Thesis School of Architecture Carnegie Mellon University

Advised by: Stefan Gruber Jonathan Kline