Creative Destruction and Commercialization of Traditional Villages: Likeng, Wangkou, and Jiangwan in Wuyuan, China

Abstract

Since the latter half of the 20th century, rural communities with unique place-based assets have been re-imagined as tourist destinations, and broad rural areas have been gradually incorporated into urban consumption systems. In some locales, traditional villages have been transformed from productive spaces to consumption spaces. Focusing on three traditional villages in Wuyuan that share similar cultural assets: Likeng, Wangkou, and Jiangwan, this study evaluated if this transformation, sometimes termed as "creative destruction," is occurring in China's traditional villages, and to uncover the motivations driving this change. Based on the commercialization of the traditional village space, this study found that the creative destruction model highlights the role of tourism as a dominant driver transforming a rural landscape. The case study approach is applied to three communities and the stakeholder's benefits game is analyzed during every stage of commercialization. The most significant finding is the recognition that the creative destruction model should be revised when analyzing the commercialization stages in China's traditional villages, especially because of the need to assimilate the influence of interested local governments and other stakeholders. Furthermore, the revised model may reveal future development directions from productive rural landscape to diversified hybrid landscape.