Multiple marginalizations: Understanding rural restructuring around metropolitan development zone — A case study from Pengdu Village, Shanghai

Abstract

As urbanization and industrialization progress rapidly in China, villages around metropolitan development zones are at risk of marginalization. Although a number of studies have focused on the issue of rural marginalization, there is no comprehensive analytical framework for rural marginalization, the situation of rural marginalization around development zones is unclear, and its dimensions and mechanisms of rural marginalization have not yet been fully revealed. We constructed an analytical framework for multiple rural marginalization, and used Pengdu village in Shanghai as a typical case, integrating the methods of participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and statistical analysis into a rural study. We found that Pengdu Village faces multiple marginalization in the context of the construction and development of the Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone, which is centrally manifested in four dimensions: physical marginalization, economic marginalization, social marginalization, and psychological marginalization. These four dimensions of marginalization are intertwined and reinforce each other, contributing to the overall marginalization. The multiple marginalization of rural areas is driven by a combination of forces emanating from globalization as well as the power, capital and social structures in which rural areas are embedded. To solve the rural development dilemma brought about by rural marginalization, initiatives such as bottom-up rural social innovation and rural livelihood diversification are feasible paths to achieve rural transformation and development.