Hanoi's Water Urbanism Heritage

Ref.: 116
Área temática: 04 Sin asignar
Fecha de recepción: 30/10/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

SHANNON, Kelly * - KU Leuven (Bélgica)

EVALUACIÓN FINAL DEL COMITÉ CIENTÍFICO: Pendiente

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. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is spatially structured by water ­ in the form of the mighty Red River ­ Hong Song or Song Ca (Mother River) ­ and an extensive (yet disappearing) network of natural and man-made lakes. The Hong Song or Song Ca (Mother River) of Vietnam was historically a lucrative trade route to China. The 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. In Hanoi, ancient traditions of phong thuy (the science of wind and water) placed special reverence on water bodies and the relation of settlement to them. Hanoi once had a strong relationship to the mighty Red River and an interconnected network of natural and man-made canals and lakes. Ancient ingenuity in agricultural irrigation methods are disappearing traces of the city's urban periphery, yet remnants of its regulating water structures remain.

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. The heritage of a water-based urbanism is threatened to disappear. Not only is such a loss a cultural one, but also once which spells inevitable disaster in terms of the city's resilience to flooding.

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. It will use interpretative cartography to trace the evolution, contemporary condition and future possibilities regarding the interplay between (water)landscape, infrastructure and urbanization.

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