Process, Characteristics and Mechanism of Spatial Transformation in Traditional Villages from the Perspective of Spatial Production: A Case Study of Maihuayucun Village in Huangshan City

Abstract

Traditional villages are the best witness of the process of agriculture civilization, with rich material and intangible culture heritage. However, under the influence of rapid urbanization, industrialization and globalization, the development of traditional villages is faced with dilemmas such as the decline of material space, the inactivation of cultural space and the hollowing of social space. Scientifically guiding the function renewal and spatial adaptive transformation of traditional villages is not only the practical needs of their protection and development, but also an important topic of rural development and planning research in China. Taking the national traditional village Maihuayucun Village in Huangshan City as an example, on the basis of field investigation, combined with the relevant literature review, and based on the perspective of "ternary dialectics" of space production, this paper analyzes the spatial transformation process, characteristics and driving mechanism of traditional villages from the three dimensions of material space, social space and institutional space. The results show that: (1) Since the reform and opening up, Maihuayucun Village has gradually evolved from a traditional agricultural village to an industrial village characterized with bonsai industry, which has experienced three stages: endogenous slow transformation and development, exogenous space rapid expansion and orderly space quality improvement. (2) The spatial transformation of traditional villages is characterized by the functional differentiation and remodeling of material space, the disintegration and reconstruction of social space, and the gradual improvement of institutional space. The space function has gradually changed from the traditional production and living function to multiple composite functions such as ecological leisure, characteristic bonsai planting, commercial operation and service, and cultural inheritance and display. The livelihood of villagers has been diversified, from the traditional single agricultural planting industry to the diversified livelihood methods such as bonsai management, farmhouse entertainment, and tourism services, and the social relations have changed from closed tradition to open and modern. And the subject of institutional space has changed from the dual subject of village committee and villagers to the multiple subject of government, village committee, villagers, capital and tourists. (3) The changes of social relations, capital investment and power intervention are the main driving forces for the spatial production of Maihuayucun Village. The three forces interact and promote the interactive evolution of social space, material space and institutional space, and jointly promote the spatial transformation. With the disintegration of traditional agricultural economy and the growth of bonsai industry, the growing demand for production and residence of villagers has promoted the continuous expansion and transformation of village material space. Driven by bonsai industry and rural tourism, the exogenous construction of villages has developed rapidly, and the support of a large amount of external capital has provided a strong driving force for the spatial transformation of villages. A series of rural development policies and measures issued by the state, especially the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, provide strategic guidance and policy guarantee for the protection, development and spatial transformation of traditional villages. In the context of rural revitalization and integrated rural and urban development in the new era, and the increasingly complex relationship between man and land in rural areas, it is particularly important to explore the differentiated and distinctive path of China's rural transformation and development. And the research on the temporal and spatial characteristics and mechanism of rural spatial transformation of different types and different spatial scales needs to be further broken through. This paper can provide reference for relevant researches in terms of research perspective, research ideas and research spatial scale, and provide guidance for the protection, development and planning of traditional villages

Keywords

• traditional village
• spatial transformation
• spatial production
• maihuayucun village