In China, revitalization of the rural community has become a key national strategy which aims at redressing the problems of regional imbalance, stimulating rural growth and building a modernized and affluent country. A wide body of academic research has already been completed on many aspects of rural regeneration. But, a holistic perspective is still badly needed, because revitalization of the Chinese countryside is a gigantic social engineering project that requires coordinated, careful, and comprehensive considerations in its society, culture and economy. How to build up a livable, vibrant and resilient community is the crux of rural regeneration. At present, the rural community and grassroots governance in China are experiencing tremendous challenges, threats and transformations under the wave of rapid urbanization. The peri-urban areas, which embody both rural and urban features, have become the hot spots of social confrontations and contentions. What is an effective model of governance for these peri-urban areas? How to address the social conflicts in the rural society arising from the unequal distribution of social benefits? How to enhance neighborhood identity and social pride of the urbanized villagers? These are some of the important questions which need to be examined through scholarly research, intellectual debates and empirical studies in order to identify the right strategy and policy for rural revitalization.

 

This Symposium examined important issues related to the characteristics of community and neighborhood in the Chinese context, institutional innovation in community/neighborhood governance, collective property rights reforms, mobility and inclusion of migrant workers, and so on. Collective property rights reform is a research focus of this Symposium because collective property rights system constitutes the key institution in China’s rural governance. Community/Neighborhood Governance and Collective Property Rights Reform are the two key themes of this Symposium, which include but do not limit to the following main discussion topics:
• Defining features of Chinese rural community and new neighborhood
• Mobility and inclusion of migrant workers
• Transformation in rural governance
• Rural collective property rights reform
• Research methodology and methods in governance and property rights reform

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