Revitalization vs. redevelopment
Japanese standard-bearers for rural revitalization, such as Ryo Yamazaki and Hitoshi Kinoshita, have developed differing approaches, with the community development school of thought focusing on local identities and community connections, and the commercial school of thought focusing on business development. Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses.
In Taiwan, the National Development Council is responsible for implementing rural revitalization policy, and has proposed strategies based on a “human-centered approach,” “industries with local DNA,” and “introducing technologies.” “Simply put, if you want people to move back into these areas, you need job opportunities for them,” explains NDC minister Chen Mei-ling. “And if you want jobs, you have to have businesses.”
To that end, the NDC is taking stock of local strengths, encouraging business development, and introducing technological infrastructure to meet the needs of the digital age. But is regional revitalization any different than previous community development initiatives? Setting private-sector development efforts to one side, regional revitalization is clearly different because the government is now explicitly focusing on the use of business creation and economic benefits to energize communities.
Older community development programs focused on unifying communities, forging consensus, and solidarity, not on fostering local businesses or creating jobs. Simply put, the efforts didn’t emphasize business development or profit and were typically led by community development associations. The new revitalization efforts are instead built on a business model and aim to support the scaling-up of local enterprises. “The two paths are different, and do different things,” says Lin.
Even so, both Lin and Chen cite community development as a first step. As Lin puts it, “Community development is the foundation that holds people together. But you build on it by starting businesses to create the jobs that enable people to remain in the community.”