1.1 Research Origins
Thanks to the efforts made over three decades since the adoption of reform and opening up policy, China has become the world’s second largest economy, but China’s development is unbalanced. The past course of its development focuses on “mega cities” instead of “small villages”. This is supposed to be one of the reasons why the urban development is faster than that of the rural development. The progress and trend of design industry centers on urban life in respect of design practice or philosophy, even modern products are commonplace in villages, but is there any real village design? Village design is obviously a tribe that has been forgotten by the design community.
Now the reality is that the social harmony and stability will not be possible without the rural sustainable development (Wen & Zhang, 2011). Mr. Liang Shuming said, “rural construction means the construction of the whole Chinese society rather than building villages, like a campaign of building a new organization for the reconstruction of national society (Pan, Zhang, & Zhong, 2014)”. Following the 18th CPC National Congress and the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the coordinated development of urban and rural areas is prioritized, and the village design has been put on agenda by colleges and institutions.
Despite the gratifying results achieved in the coordinated urban and rural development and the booming of rural economy, all kinds of conflicts and problems exposed in the course of the high-speed coordinated urban and rural development of most villages cannot be concealed. Obvious conflicts and problems include substantial deterioration of living environment, outdated public facilities, fading traditional culture, and obstructed sustainable development.
The need for sustainable development in rural areas constitutes a part of the sustainable development of the whole society. Village design should meet the needs of contemporaries without affecting the ability of the next generations to meet their own needs. The sustainable development underlines the virtuous cycle of the whole society and the economic growth of the human society. The sustainable development of rural areas underlines the urban development and the sustained utilization of resources. Since the availability of resources per capita is not sufficient and the ecological environment foundation is weak, the only way to getting out of dilemma and achieving the harmonious development is to carry out the study of village design based on the sustainable development needs.