published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

À partir d’une enquête ethnographique portant sur les continuités et les changements des pratiques matrimoniales au village de Zhang (province du Henan), cette thèse vise à identifier et à expliquer si les modifications des rites et des processus matrimoniaux observés sont les témoins d’une transformation structurelle de l’institution du mariage en Chine rurale contemporaine. En étudiant les activités matrimoniales étape par étape, elle démontre que la valeur de la perpétuation du lignage patrilinéaire en tant que valeur transcendante englobant tous types de relations familiales demeure une réalité intangible. Même si de nombreux changements sont constatés dans le domaine de la vie privée depuis l’arrivée au pouvoir du Parti Communiste Chinois en 1949, ces changements concernent avant tout les manières dont les membres de la famille entretiennent et maintiennent les liens qui les unissent les uns avec les autres, mais ne remettent guère en question l’institution du mariage elle-même ni sa vocation principale, celle de la perpétuation du lignage patrilinéaire. Contrairement à la théorie de l’individualisation de la société chinoise proposée par l’anthropologue sino-américain YAN Yunxiang 阎云翔, les analyses fournies dans cette thèse soutiennent l’idée que les changements observés s’inscrivent dans un niveau secondaire et s’opèrent à l’intérieur d’une structure pérenne, soit un « changement dans la société » au lieu d’un « changement de la société ». / Based on an ethnographic study of matrimonial activities at Zhang Village (Henan province), this dissertation aims to identify continuities and changes in matrimonial rituals and procedures and explain whether observed changes speak of a structural transformation of the institution of marriage in contemporary rural China. By studying the matrimonial activities step by step, it demonstrates that perpetuation of the patrilineal lineage remains a transcendent value encompassing all types of family relationships. Although there have been many changes in private life since the Chinese Communist Party’s rise to power in 1949, these changes primarily concern the ways in which family members maintain bonds with each other, whereas, the institution of marriage itself, and its principal vocation, that of perpetuating the patrilineal lineage, are hardly called into question. Thus, against the thesis of the individualization of Chinese society suggested by the Sino-American anthropologist YAN Yunxiang, the analyses provided in this dissertation put forward the idea that observed changes take place within a perennial structure vis-à-vis what they are secondary. In other words, it is a "change in society" instead of a "change of society".

A class of migrant workers in China that have left their official rural residence in search of work and wealth in the more developed coastal cities have created a new process of urbanization. The ‘floating population’ numbering 150 million has created immense demand for low-cost housing. Village enterprises within the city region of expanding metropolises have self-organized to supply affordable housing. However, economic incentives and ownership constraints on rural land deter long-term considerations and favour rapid development. The building (and destruction) of a country cannot be recklessly left to coincidental solutions of profit opportunities in remnant policies. An understanding of the systemic political, economic and social properties that generate the built fabric of today and of traditional villages can allow us to manipulate the current process of development. The village of Zhangpeng in Dongguan city of the Pearl River Delta region is on the brink of explosive growth. Major infrastructural developments have been constructed and planned on its expropriated lands. Without proper guidance, the status quo process of urbanization will destroy the village overnight. The proposed alternative is to manipulate market-demand through village-led investment in its public space network in order to spur private development of village properties. The method is through strategic and incremental investment on village public space and property and monitoring the catalytic effect of these changes on private redevelopment. Adjustments in land development is made to steer the built fabric into a form between what the village wants it to become and what it has the propensity to be. The aim is to create a system of land development that will preserve, adapt and extend traditional village fabric and its way of life.

<p>This dissertation investigates the varied institutional foundations of local governance in rural China with central emphasis on the role of communal structures and rural-urban migration. Instead of treating indigenously developed institutions (IDIs) and externally imposed institutions (EIIs) as competing variables as in most other contemporary research on local governance, this dissertation develops a theoretical framework exploring the interaction between the two types of institutions in sustaining local governance as well as analyzing how community structural features shape this interaction and influence their respective efficacy in sustaining local governance. With the help of a representative national survey in mainland China in 2008 and carefully selected case studies, this dissertation finds that both indigenous institutions and externally imposed institutions can uphold quality governance in local communities, as long as they can efficaciously solve the problems of collective action and accountability. Close-knit communities favor the operation of indigenous institutions; while externally imposed institutions are relatively more competent in half-open communities. However, neither of them can survive and perform effectively in atomized communities due to the lack of a minimal level of coordination among community members. As outward migration challenges rural communities in an uneven way and transforms communal structures to various extents, it is likely to observe a variety of institutional foundations sustaining local governance in Chinese villages.</p> / Dissertation

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

At present, China is on a track of fast economic growth and urbanization development, this will definitely shape urban and rural areas at the same time. A new relationship between urban and rural areas is forming. How will urban-rural interaction in China develop in the future? What are the implications for planning legislation? This dissertation gives an overview of rural development and planning in China since 1949 and evaluates the implementation evaluation of planning legislation over the period of last decade. Through the study of planning legislation in China, an urban-rural integrated planning and management system is defined. This system consists of institutional subsystem, legal subsystem, operational subsystem, and technical subsystem. The assessment of this system at different administrative level will provide an idea that how policy and legislation could influence the development in rural areas. In respect, the findings on pilot project studies, questionnaire survey as well as field survey could serve as a feedback to the planning legislation. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning