Yan Zhan
ABSTRACT: Traditional village public spaces are the key nodes for rural revitalization and cultural sustainability.As a cultural carrier embodying the historical memory of the Chinese nation, traditional villages are currently confronting the dual challenges of “hollowing-out” and “aging”. Against the backdrop of new-type urbanization, the sole reliance on government-led protection models has become insufficient to maintain the cultural continuity and sustainable development of traditional villages. Taking participatory design theory as its framework, employs research methods such as in-depth interviews (n = 20), two rounds of participatory workshops (with 30 participants in total), and two rounds of roundtable meetings (with 20 participants in total). It applies the community empowerment theory to the context of rural cultural heritage. It systematically analyses the current characteristics of public spaces and the needs of villagers in Feng’ao Village, Ningbo, China. This study reveals the bidirectional interaction mechanism between the reconstruction of artistic value and the reshaping of subject identity in the process of spatial reproduction. The research shows that 83% of the villagers can significantly enhance their collective cultural identity through participatory design; on the other hand, with the help of community empowerment, the cultural identity scores of the villagers increased by 41.7%. This study provides theoretical references for addressing challenges such as the absence of subjects and loss of cultural memory in traditional village conservation. This study constructs a dynamic protection system design framework centred around villagers and based on the principles of “participatory design + community empowerment”, and explores a replicable and innovative path for the organic integration of heritage conservation and community development.
Keywords: traditional villages,participatory design,community empowerment,public space renewal,cultural inheritance