Hanoi's Water Urbanism Heritage

Ref.: 116
Key theme: 01 Physical integrity of historic urban landscapes
Date of reception: 30/10/2008

AUTHORS (*Main author)

KELLY, Shannon * (Belgium) - KU Leuven

ABSTRACT

The paper will focus on the capital city of Vietnam and its evolving relationship to water. Historically, the relation of urbanization to water holds a privileged position in the millennium-old Hanoi. The ancient traditions of phong thuy (the science of wind and water) placed special reverence on water bodies. Hanoi remains spatially structured by water ­ in the form of the mighty Red River (also known as the Hong Song or Song Ca (Mother River)) ­ and an extensive, interconnected network of natural and man-made lakes. The Red River is 1149km long of which 510km flows in Vietnamese territory (and includes a basin area of 60,000 sq. km) and empties into the Gulf of Tonkin; it was historically a lucrative trade route to China. The lakes served as retention basins and centers of culture, with important pagodas and public buildings in their vicinity; they remain as vibrant social spaces in contemporary urban life.

A main challenge for Hanoi concerns the relationship of new development in relation to the river
(which has water levels varying from 1.5m in the dry season to 14.13m in the wet season), its system of lakes and low-lying periphery. Due to development pressures, there is an unfortunate disappearance of water bodies (filling of lakes for land speculation, encroachment along canals, rivers and lakes), resulting in the city and region's decreased capacity for water retention, a loss of public space and an increased vulnerability to flooding (as evidenced in the devastating flood of 31 October-1 November 2008). The heritage of a water-based urbanism is threatened to disappear. Not only is such a loss a cultural one ­ where the everyday life of water and urbanity richly mix and wherein the very identity of Hanoi is expressed ­ but also a loss which spells inevitable disaster in terms of the city's resilience to flooding. Such problems are only expected to increase due to the continuous pressures of accelerated urban growth and mutation, all compounded by the consequences of climate change (namely the global rise in sea level and increasing severity and frequency of storms/ excessive rainfall ­ increasing flooding risks).

This paper will argue for the recognition of the inherent logic of Hanoi's landscape and its meaningful transformation in the drive of urbanization and modernization ­ thereby contributing to the defining of `historic urban landscapes'. It will use interpretative cartography to trace the evolution, contemporary condition and future possibilities regarding the interplay between (water) landscape, infrastructure and urbanization ­ an interplay between culture/ nature, city/ water, heritage/ modernity. Finally, it will elaborate upon a set of recommendations, scenarios and strategies to create contemporary water-based urban fabrics ­ that take non-nostalgic lessons from the past ­ towards building an innovative approach to urban water design, engineering and management.

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