Tradition and modernity in developing urban structure (structure of urban development)

Ref.: 341
Key theme: 02 Functional integrity of historic urban landscapes
Date of reception: 05/12/2008

AUTHORS (*Main author)

VAN QUANG, Truong * (Viet Nam) - Architecture, urban & rural planning institute - Ministry of construction

ABSTRACT

The balance between human and their living environment might be destroyed, the traditional culture and characteristic might fade away because of the process of urbanization and globalization.It is a big challenge to conciliate discrepancies between modernizing and saving cultural value. Urbanization can stimulate economic and social activities, expand scale of construction and substructure, but it also can deform the historical urban space, scenes and the basic functions of old cities.
Nowadays, those cultural, spiritual values of each country are highly praised and become one of the important forces in developing the country. So, cultural and urban heritages need to be preserved, respected and brought into play in each period of urban developing. We have to have a righteous view of urban legacy, resonnable planning and preserving solution, respecting the old values but still ensuring the continuity of city's structure in its progress. To make a not only modern but also traditional and characteristic urban space.
Realization and awareness of inherent value, functional unity of historical city-scapes in new developed environment have a specific and important role in this field. Urban planning and conserving have to be harmonious and enhancing those precious values of our nation with the motto: " Preserving for progression, progressing for preservation". The system of urban inheritance, including the continuity of historical urban-scape, plays the important part and specific value of modern city's structure and makes out the own color, attractiveness and competitiveness for each city.
As in many research, it is said that, morphologically, Vietnamese city is the long term transition from village to urban in common conception. Essentially, they are urban-marketfield/shopping mall (town_market including streets with tube houses where you can both living and trading, producing and consuming goods. ... The old streets in Hanoi and Hue or Hoian, for example, reflect the social and architectural morphological particular traits of Vietnamese urban. Particularly, almost cities in Vietnam own a huge amount of natural, scenic, architectural, heritagual found .... Which have spectacular and prominent value.
Vietnam has attached special importance to the conservation and embellishment of urban heritages recently. The organizations inside and outside the country have had researches, propositions and financing for encouraging restoration of heritages that have high value of arts. However, the work has still carried out in a low rate and that might be a warning of the destruction and falling into obvilion of the urban herritages. Mr Denis Gray _ a foreign expert who have been to Hanoi said: "Some local people thought that the progression and modernization are measured through height of buildings in the cities. With that tendency we can worry that Hanoi might join the ranks of many Asian countries that rubbed out their own features." Mr Duong Trung Quoc said:" It is dificult that when we realized the traditional values and we give prominence to them, the market economy, quick urbanization and bad managerment that due to less experiences and bureaucratic system had made imbalance race, in which the destruction of the heritages are always the winner."...
It's our loss if each urban area in Vietnam doesn't have its own beauty. Somewhere, houses with roofs of onion, garlic shape from other countries, glass, aluminium frame_windows, which don't suit Vietnam enviroment, spread far and wide in almost urban area in Vietnam like an epidemic. From the North to the South, from delta to moutainous region, from Hanoi to Haiphong, Caobang, Sapa... from Hochiminh city to Nhatrang, Dalat... quarter, old quarter, and natural landscapes have been being pushed out by less of superficial view during planning process and industry combization, less of experiences and necessory methods of contruction managerment that based on planning, less of awareness of cultural character realization and community responsibility, loss of aesthetics and respectable own feature that is necessary a position of strength of each urban area specially in modernization trend nowaday.
The conservation and embellishment of cultural heritages in the developing society is a mission that is permanent, complicated, long-term, and related to many econonmic ­ social and scientific ­ arts fields. Another important and dificult work is planning, conservation, embellishment and carrying forward values of the system of urban herritages in the urbanization process in Vietnam. In addition, to contribute to built and develop the new, modern, having - national character architecture industry that based on spirit of the resolution of the fifth 8th ­ class Communist Party excutive board conference, which is about building and developing modern, having_national charater culture, is necessary to research deeply of various of urban fields, among which is urban herritage. In the other way we can say that how urban heritages, the unity of funtions of historical urban landscapes have important role and deserving position day by day ,together with that the other traditional cultural features make "the own" in the modern, traditional urban system. It is objective requirement in urban developing process that combining with innovating and intergrating process in Vietnam that is required to innovate our urban planning, developing management in our country.

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