ABSTRACT
China, the world's most rapidly developing country in the past 30 years of twentieth century, is experiencing a severe economic and cultural development imbalance. Rapid urbanisation has destroyed many regional cultural and traditional communities. This chapter shows how people can be understood in their communities and how a real-life project explored design methods centred on 'community' and 'people in their community'. It identifies the needs of social innovation in a particular region through a participatory approach. Design based on networks and communities may become a new paradigm of social innovation. Knowledge platforms, organisation design, social learning and other aspects are all dependent on the building of network platforms and cross disciplinary collaborative design in the process of social innovation. Networks and virtual communities will drive design's participation in community social innovation in a more tensional structural form and with more social identity power that is innovation networks, design networks and social networks making a web-based and sustainable, harmonious community possible.
