Hanoi boasts a huge variety of architectural heritages which reflect the uniquecultural identities of the local community and serve certain functions in thecity’s spatial organisation.

In the context of rapid socio-economic development, the municipal authoritieshave endeavoured to manage and preserve valuable tangible and intangibleheritages which are in danger of being affected by the urbanisation andmodernisation process.

Hanoi is home to about 6,000 historical,cultural-artistic, architectural and archaeological relic sites, some of which have been recognised byUNESCO.

According to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, around 2,000 localrelics have been damaged, with more than 200 in need of immediate conservation.

Preservationefforts for Hanoi’s eternal soul

Amongthe heritages in Hanoi, the Old Quarter is a prime example reflecting the authorities’decades-long preservation efforts.

Known as an ancient urban heritage, themillennium-old area represents the eternal soul of Hanoi as it is associated with the formation and development ofthe capital city, as well as traditional handicraft and trade guilds.

A corner in Hang Thiec street

The Old Quarter was designated as a national historical relic site in2004. It also has the highest density of monuments in the country, with 79 streets and almost 4,300 houses on an area of81ha.

Although the area has experienced socio-economic changes, it retains aunique atmosphere with vibrant commercial streets as well as some traditionalhandicrafts and socio-cultural activities.

TheOld Quarter is characterised by rows of narrow shophouses, about 3m in widthand 60-100m in depth. Due to their shape, these houses are called tubehouses.

Development pressure has prompted the destruction of traditional tubehouses,requiring urgent actions to preserve and restore the distinctive architectural and cultural value of the Old Quarter.

According to Vice Chairman of the HoanKiem district People's Committee Pham Tuan Long, the first preservationproposal was made by the Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning underthe Ministry of Construction and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)in 1990.

During the early 1990s, domestic and international experts, along with aid organisations,were engaged in surveys and studies, proposing suggestions to give a faceliftto streets in this historical quarter.

In 1995, the Hanoi authorities established aproject management board tasked with preserving and restoring valuable culturalheritages in the Old Quarter.

Long said conservation work has been divided into differentperiods with specific programmes and projects involving relevant sectors andagencies of the city and funded by foreign countries and organisations,including the Swedish InternationalDevelopment Cooperation Agency (SIDA),Toulouse of France, Brussels of Belgium, the European Union, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), among others.

Preservation initiatives have focused on improving housing conditions,upgrading tubehouses, restoringstreet architecture, and proposing architectural solutions, Long noted, addingthat the municipal authorities have also carried out studies and looked forinnovative and feasible ideas to apply in practice.

A pilot programme to renovate part of Ta Hien street was carried out in2010 with a view to restoring the street in the historic centre. The street,often referred to as pho Tay (Westerners' street), is a mix of French-styleterraced architecture and century-old traditional Vietnamese architecture.

The original facades of the houseswere restored while balconies and windows were redecorated with a uniformdesign for front doors, plus air conditioning units and advertising boards.

The15-billion-VND (648,540 USD) project was a cooperation programme between Hanoi,the French city of Toulouse, and the Vietnam Institute for Urban and RuralArchitecture and Planning.

In 2015, a project to construct a resettlementarea kicked off to move some 26,000 residents from the overcrowded Old Quarter,thus helping reduce the population density from 823 people per ha in 2010 to500 in 2020. The idea is to improve people’s living conditions and promoteheritage preservation.

Dao Ngoc Nghiem, former Director of the Hanoi Department of Planning andArchitecture, said the relocation of local residents is necessary to easepressure on the Old Quarter.

According to the Hoan Kiem district People’sCommittee, the project will resettle 6,500 households by the end of 2020.

Following the successes of Ta Hien and Lan Ong streets to createdestinations for food and shopping lovers, Hoan Kiem district’s administration hasmobilised resources to refurbish the remaining 77 streets in the Old Quarter, hopingto make the area more attractive to tourists.

Starting in 2016, the work has been completed on 30 streets, and the rest are scheduledfor completion in 2020.

Along with efforts to restore old architectural works in the Old Quarter, attention has also been paid to managing architecturalplanning, as well as surveying, evaluating and classifying tangible heritagesand relic sites.

Communication campaigns have been held to spread awareness of the local culture,history and architecture in the community to help with preservation efforts.

Community joinshands in preservation

People in Hanoihave always played their part in heritage preservation, especially regarding valuablearchitectural works that are part of their spiritual lives.

Nghiem stressed that residents livingin the Old Quarter play a key role in preservation efforts because they knowwhat they need to do and how to do it.

It is very important to engage the local community in these efforts, as well asensure their interests in this work, he added.

The Urban Sketchers Hanoi (USK Hanoi), a group of all ages who undertake differentroles to maintain the beauty of the city and spread the love for it throughtheir sketches, is making great contributions to raising public awareness oflocal heritage, historical and cultural values, as well as the space they areliving in.

Architect Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, head of USK Hanoi, which was establishedin 2016, said the group gathers architects, painters, office workers, retireesand even small children, from professional painters to those who have neverused a paint brush before.

After nearly three years, the group has had more than 4,000 members, she said,adding that also thanks to regular exhibitions of their sketches, more and morepeople have joined USK Hanoi.

Talking about “Tap the cu Ha Noi – Ky hoa va hoi uc” (Hanoi’s Old LivingQuarters – Sketches and Memories) – the first book released by USK Hanoi thatmade its debut in late 2018, Thuy said Hanoi is changing very fast amidst rapid urbanisation, but there remain “hidden precious gems” that have given the cityunique features that cannot be found anywhere else.

Old living quarters are an example. They reflect Hanoi of the past full ofhardships as well as sentiments, and they are also where generations ofHanoians have been born and grown up. However, they are gradually beingdemolished and replaced by other structures.

Following the success of their first book, USK Hanoi released “Pho co Ha Noi –Ky hoa va hoi uc” (Hanoi’s Old Quarter – Sketches and Memories) in October2019. The Vietnamese-English book features more than 200 sketches of streets inthe city’s famous Old Quarter, along with emotional essays.

Thuy noted that the group is planning to publish a sketch book about oldFrench-style houses in Hanoi next year, and maybe another on the capital city’sdelicacies the following year.

In August, the group was recognised for their activities in the category ofActions for Hanoi at the Bui Xuan Phai – For the Love of Hanoi Awards hosted byThe thao & Van hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper of the Vietnam NewsAgency.

Thuy said she believes that with the globalpopularity of social networks today, feelings and love for Hanoi expressed throughsketches of the city, its people and culture will be shared not only in Asiabut also throughout the world.

Foreigners who see the sketches will be captivated by the ancientand modern beauty of Hanoi, thus inspiring them to pick up their backpacks fora trip to the city, she said./. VNA

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