Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2025
Abstract
This commentary responds to Wang et al.'s (2023) call for planetary rural geographies by attending to the neglected infrastructural dimensions. In so doing, we show how China's rural construction movement demonstrates Wang et al.'s (2023) three geographies of planetary rurality: as spaces of crisis, conflict, and hope. Simultaneously, we address how planetary rural thinking can foreground infrastructural geographies and their destabilization of urban-centered discourses, leading to a reconsideration of rural–urban relationality. We then identify new insights that critical infrastructural studies offer to planetary rural geographies. This includes an emphasis on the material grounds, hidden politics, and non-linear temporal patterns of rural–urban interactions. We conclude by suggesting that a global comparative study of rural construction movements can take the pluriversal planetary rural geographies agenda forward.
Keywords
China, Global comparison, Infrastructure, Planetary rural geographies, Rural construction movement, Rural–urban relations
Discipline
Asian Studies | Physical and Environmental Geography | Rural Sociology
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Dialogues in Human Geography
Volume
16
Issue
1
First Page
235
Last Page
239
ISSN
2043-8206
Identifier
10.1177/20438206251364983
Publisher
SAGE
Embargo Period
3-23-2026
Citation
Chen, Ningning, Kong, Lily, & Li, Yurui.(2025). Infrastructuring planetary rural geographies: A view from China’s rural construction movement. Dialogues in Human Geography, 16(1), 235-239.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4430
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206251364983
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Rural Sociology Commons