Under the context of urbanization, the construction of small towns is highly complex: they can neither form a self-contained system detached from cities, nor simply copy the logic of urban development. New types of town planning and design increasingly need to interact with cities, and the roles and ways of living of farmers have already changed.
　　Li Zhong, Managing Director of HLB International Real Estate Consultants (Beijing) Co., Ltd., believes that comprehensive factors such as national policy trends, advanced foreign concepts, and the actual situation of rural spatial development in China are influencing the approach to small town construction, which is also the issue of greatest concern and most urgent need for many urban development and planning operators. “Design factors are showing an increasingly important influence in the development of small towns,” Li Zhong said.
　　The sameness of a thousand cities spreads to “a thousand villages alike”
　　Nearly 20 years of massive demolition and construction have caused some cities to lose their cultural individuality and be transformed into a thousand cities with the same face. With the acceleration of urbanization and the widespread popularity of old village renovation, the thinking and practices behind the sameness of a thousand cities are spreading to rural areas. Some places regard building houses like those in cities and living a life like urban residents as the goal of new rural construction, blindly emphasizing rapid and aggressive progress and starting over from scratch. In some places, new rural construction blindly imitates cities, simply applying the unscientific and unreasonable methods of urban planning and construction to rural planning and construction. The newly built villages are planned in a uniform and rigid way, with no sense of rural atmosphere at all. Under the bulldozers of massive demolition and construction, many cultural relics and historic sites rich in agricultural cultural elements collapse in an instant, and villages that originally had a strong flavor of local customs and traditions instantly become neither city nor village.
　　“Old village renovation and improving farmers' living and housing quality are good things, but how to prevent repeating the mistakes of massive urban demolition and construction and avoid the situation of ‘ten thousand villages with the same appearance’ is worth vigilance and deep thought,” Li Zhong said. “China has many distinctive rural villages, so what we need to solve is not the problem of ‘distinctiveness’ but the problem of ‘awareness.’ A Bite of China is a typical case: it uses new media means to guide everyone to complete ‘awareness,’ thereby promoting local town development.”
　　Human creative activity
　　is the key to shaping “one village, one appearance”
　　Data shows that over the past 10 years, natural villages in China have been disappearing at a rate of 250 per day. This seems logical, because more people are willing to live in big cities.
　　Li Zhong believes that this is also an inevitable stage of urbanization development. “Britain in the 19th century and Japan in the mid-1950s both experienced problems of urban overcrowding and rural decline; what we have today is merely repeating the yesterday of developed countries. Take Taiwan, China, as an example: rural areas in Taiwan, China, are very attractive, but population loss is very serious. How to solve this problem requires reference to the solutions of developed regions.”
　　It is not difficult to find that reshaping rural landscapes, restoring rural vitality, and maintaining regional economic vitality are their common path to solving this problem. “The ‘appearance’ here is a complex formed by superimposing human creative activities onto natural landscapes. It includes both the main material and cultural landscapes, such as settlement layout and form, and the internal interaction of society, economy, and spirit. It is often manifested as the spatial image of village culture created by a certain regional population, forming strong recognizability and impressiveness in the village.” Li Zhong attributes the key to shaping and continuing rural landscapes to people: “How to retain people is the key to solving the problem, and bringing knowledge back to rural areas is the core issue in reshaping rural landscapes.”
　　Li Zhong introduced the exploratory development process of Taomi Village, a traditional agricultural village in Nantou County, Taiwan, China. In the “9·21” earthquake of 1999, Taomi Village became a severely affected area, exposing the awkward problems of the decline of its long-standing traditional rural industries and population outflow. Led by the NGO “New Homeland Foundation for Culture and Education,” Taomi Village carried out post-disaster self-rescue and reconstruction work: building a “Paper Church” to construct the spiritual origin of community residents; building a stream protection project to reshape villagers' sense of homeland; and tapping favorable rural factors to rebuild the industrial foundation. “This case shows how, relying on agriculture, developing quaternary industries, and preserving rural landscapes, a community organization was developed, villagers' common will was unified, and ultimately villagers were retained, distinctive industries were developed, and the village was revitalized,” Li Zhong said.
　　Japan's Setouchi, which uses art to inject new vitality into rural areas, is also a good case. Setouchi once had a developed fishing industry, but in recent years it has faced serious problems of population aging and industrial decline. By introducing the Setouchi Triennale, the area established a clear distinctive feature. Modern artists, architects, and local residents worked together to create a good opportunity for the region to communicate with the world, ultimately restoring the village to its original vitality.
　　Unique design achieves “one village, one product”
　　The “One Village, One Product” movement originated in Oita Prefecture, Japan. Its founder, Hiramatsu Morihiko, proposed developing something a village or region can be proud of—such as existing local specialties and tourism resources, or even just a folk song—into a product that is well known across the country and even around the world.
　　In the “One Village, One Product” movement, every village can discover its own characteristics: villages featuring strawberries, villages featuring tea culture, and even villages featuring stargazing. “These ‘products’ are the embodiment of a village's distinctive resources and have now evolved deeply into a culture and a form of tourism. Through in-depth research, product quality is improved, and product reputation is built on quality,” Li Zhong believes. “One Village, One Product” is not simply a movement to develop products; it is also very effective in building distinctive village blocks.
　　Take Tsumago-juku in Nagiso Town, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, as an example. In ancient times, this was one of the post stations on the official road, bustling with traffic and prosperous for a time. But after railway transportation developed, it declined and a large number of people moved away. In recent years, however, more than 600,000 tourists have poured into Tsumago every year, bringing considerable tourism income. The reason is that Tsumago residents are committed to maintaining the old post station landscape and have successfully turned Tsumago into a tourist base full of historical charm. This Tsumago model of town (village, community) making has become an object of emulation across Japan. In addition, the “Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale” (the most successful model of a public art festival in Asia) also invites international artists to combine local spatial design works; all artworks must employ local farmers to participate, thereby increasing local employment.
　　“Our lives do not lack beauty; they lack discovery.” Li Zhong believes that compared with creating scenic spots, promoting scenic spots is even more important, which requires designing marketing strategies. “Only by truly integrating design into rural areas can we obtain unique experiential charm.”