Issues Within Rural Community Development

Among China’s 1.4 billion people, nearly 8 billion lives in rural area. This is a context that any research and thinking regarding China has to base upon. Building a new socialist countryside, basically the fifth reform happened to the nation’s rural society, is a strategically sound decision made by the Chinese Communist Party and the Sate Council. As an indispensable component of national economy development, building new socialist countryside is an important institutional change in terms of its depth and scope, which is destined to shape a new era. In transit toward the "New Countryside," community construction represents one of the most important elements of urbanization and hence deserves intensive studies.However, existing research literature are mostly sociological and economics studies. Systematic theory that can provide guidance to actual community planning and construction is yet to emerge. In view of this, researches addressing China’s rural issues have to be more in-depth, region-focused, and well-planned in advance. Zhangjiagang is keen on urban-rural integration. With outstanding achievement in its harmonious urban-rural development, Zhangjiagang has become the first county-level cities in China to earn the UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award. Taking into consideration of Zhangjiagang’s developing stage and its representative status, an in-depth study on its experience in urban-rural integration would greatly help understand the development of new socialist countryside and the forming of rural community in China.This dissertation tries to review existing theoretical literature and practices on rural community development both domestically and internationally. Based on field studies on two typical rural communities in Zhangjiagang, the dissertation identified problematic issues in building rural community in China’s context and traced its causes. Solutions and recommendations were offered with a hope to improve rural community development in the future.