Sammendrag
Chenlu is a small town in the mountains north of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, with a 1500 years history dominated by pottery production. This was run by families organized in a clan system, but in the process of collectivization, a large factory was established in the 1950s. With the introduction of modern industrial materials in household utensils, and the introduction of market economy, much of the traditional produce is no longer marketable. The factory has had to reduce its staff, and some of the workers have returned to family-based production, while others have become farmers. many look for a better life and income by migrating to large towns. Infrastructure like water supply and road standard, affects both daily life and transport of goods. It seems, however, that also the migrants feel very much attached to Chenlu, among other things by not selling their houses. What lies at the base of people's decisions, whether they choose to leave or stay? What part do cultural continuity play in the processes of tranformation going on - and last, but not least - which images of the modern city life are felt attractive? Can this be studied in the perspective of resource management? Chenlu is a very particular case, but have traits that obviously connect to more general sets of problems, like the urbanizing process in the growing Chinese economy, the enormous prosperity differences between city people and people in the countryside, and the chang in production mode from manual to industrial methods. The lecture was based on field work made with students in cooperation between Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology (XUAT) and NTNU.
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