Urban transition and public space in vietnam, a view from the streets of ho chi minh city

THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus URBAN TRANSITION AND PUBLIC SPACE IN VIETNAM: A VIEW FROM HO CHI MINH CITY STREETS Marie Gibert University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Prodig Geographical Research Unit, Paris marie_gibert@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION The emerging metropolises of Southeast Asia are currently undergoing an accelerated and globally-driven urban transition Their economic emergence is taking place in a context characterized by an exponential urban growth, a re-valuing of the city by the political authorities in the region and a fast process of urban renewal Theses urban transformations are not only architectural, but also economic and social: they lead to the reconfiguration of urban forms, to the reshaping of the urban management, and to a renegotiation of daily urban practices These processes raise social and political issues about the rise of civil society in Southeast Asia This paper aims to address these contemporary mechanisms of urban change in Vietnam, as they can be seen from the public space, at the street level Urban public spaces constitute an interesting angle from which to observe the evolution of urban lifestyle and citizenship Paradoxically, this object of study only found a true place within the field of urban studies at the end of the 1990s, at a moment when the quality and the vibrancy of these public spaces appeared to be threatened by new forms of privatization, segregation and even sometimes by violence (Jacobs, 1995; Ghorra-Gobin, 2001 ; Decroly and al., 2003 ; Billard and al., 2005) But these analyzes mostly applied to the Northern metropolises The more recent exploration of this topic in the field of Southeast Asian studies constitutes an invitation to reconsider these conclusions (Heng, Low, 2010 Goh and Bunnell, 2013) De-centering the focus allows both to enrich the o igi all àEu opea o eptàofà pu li àspa e àa dàtoà e e àtheàstud àofàtheàlo alàu a àfa i ài à“outheastàAsia “t eetàlifềisài deedàầ ele a tà a àtồassessàthề ásia - ess àofàầ it ààI àthềViet a esề ase,àst eetsàa ềthề most evident and widespread form of public spaces Indeed, Ho Chi Minh City counts nearly no squares – which is a major difference from the urban matrix of the European classical city (Sitte, 1889) – and the city contains only a few parks, most of them being located in the inherited colonial centre On the contrary, walking trough Ho Chi Minh streets allows one to take in the pulse of city life and to experience vibrant urban rhythms Theà st eetà o stitutesà theà pa adig ofà theà u a fo Gou ,à asà ità othà e odiesà itsà ide tit a dà reveals the mechanisms of its global functioning Looking at urban mutations through the lens of street life evolution allows one to consider the daily nature of urban changes This scale is particularly relevant to Ho Chi Mi hàCit ,à he eàst eetà ultu eàhasàal a sà ee eàofàtheà it ’sàst o gestàfeatu es.àTheàli ità et ee àp i ateà and public spaces is everything but clear: the ground floor shops largely overflow onto the streets and the esti spa ề isà ofte idel ope tồ theà passe ’sà ie Drummond, 2000 ; Thomas, 2001 and 2002) But today, from a neo-functionalist perspective, economic growth and new street regulations are leading towards a shift from multiple-use public spaces to single-use ones The ongoing urban renewal, with streets and alleyways (hẻm) widening projects, bring into question the public space as a tool of social inclusion and the evolution of the ightà tồ thề it (Lefebvre, 1968) in the in post-reform and fast globalizing Vietnam Such urban projects question not only the ways a city is shaped by its inhabitants, but also the effective role, power and voices of the various stakeholders Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus Usi gà Mi helà deà Ce teau’sà ideầ ofà ta ti Dề Ce tea età al.,à ,à theà ofà thisà pape is to analyze the everyday strategies used by dwellers to impose their vision of the street in a transitional context I therefore argue that streetsà i Hoà Chià Mi hà Cit o stituteà spa esàofà egotiatio atà leastà asà u hà asà spa esà ofà o t ol My analysis is based on several years of participatory observation and in-depth interviews in Ho Chi Minh City streets as part of my doctoral project First, I conducted 30 in-depthài te ie sà othà ithà ep ese tati esàf o àtheà it ’sà authorities at different administrative levels and with local residents I also conducted an extensive survey of 120 qualitative questionnaires, both before and after the implementation of the alleys widening projects, in neighbourhoods of the inner districts of Phu Nhuan, Binh Thanh, district and district A spatial ethnographic app oa h,àfo usi gào it àd elle s’àlo alàu a àp a ti esài espo sềtồthề e egulatio sàallows me to observe various postures of resistance on the streets This approach bridges urban planning, political science, and social studies while aiming to develop an integrated understanding of the street uses in Ho Chi Minh City Figure Location of the studied wards in Ho Chi Minh City inner districts Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus PART I HO CHI MINH CITY STREETS AND TRADE, A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL INCLUSION IN PUBLIC SPACE A detour via a semantics study allows for a better understanding of the particular concept of the street within Vietnamese culture The Vietnamese language provides a categorization of the world characterized by the use of classifiers for nouns, according to whether they are living things (con) or inanimate objects (cái) It is quite e eali gàthatàtheà o o a eàfo st eet àisàthe efo eà o đường àa dà otà đường àTheàst eetàisàthoughtà ofà i Viet a eseà asà a a ti eà ei g.à Theà so ialà p a ti esà o t i utề tồ defi ề thề st eet’sà ide tit a dà the accompany its metamorphoses Trade as the Basis of Ho Chi Mi h City’s “treet Morphology There are different ways to classify Ho Chi Minh City streets, using for example historical criteria that emphasize the morphological differences between colonial and post-colonial streets The first ones have been designed following a standardized grid Historical sources indicate that French engineers built their ideal modern city from the street pattern itself, which pre-dated and then framed the building scheme (Bouchot, 1927) The streets of the Chinese neighbourhood of Cholon also grew from the logical plans of merchants who placed particular importance on having road access for all types of buildings The streets were rectilinear and laid out in a logical way in order to have connection links to the canal Charles Goldblum considers that this attention to the network provided by the roads in the organization of the city makes the Chinese compartments the first form of modern city in South East Asia (Goldblum, 1985) On the other hand, post-colonial streets – and especially the typical shape of the winding alley – are mainly born out of the pragmatism of city dwellers during uncertain historical times These narrow alleys no longer predate the housing frames, but rather they are the result of informal settlements and historical densification processes Faced with the lack of available land, the urban form of the shop house is still considered today as the best way to opti izềe e eside t’sàa essàtồthềst eetài àhighl àde seàa eas1 Figure Extract of a cadastral survey in Binh Thanh district (Ward 22): the dominance of elongated plots The average density of population in the Ho Chi Minh City urban districts was 12 450 inhabitants/ km in 2011 (Statistical Yearbook of Ho Chi Minh City, 2011) Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus The urban form of the tube house (nhà phố i Viet a ese,à lite all ea i gà theà houseà o theà o e ialà st eet àisàstillàdo i a tài àHoàChiàMi hàCit àtoda àE e àifàtheseàhousesàa eà uiltàhighe àa dàa eàa hite tu all more sophisticated, the prevailing Vietnamese houses are still rectangular, very narrow and deep (around to m of width and 15 to 25 m of depth) and they are implemented perpendicularly to the streets (fig.2) The houses are only open on one side facing the street Trading functions have driven the urban housing form The value of the land itself is directly connected to the commercial potential of the street the house opens onto The larger the street is, the higher its commercial potential, and the higher the price of the land In the same way, living on an intersection is valued.àTheàViet a eseàe p essio nha mặt tiề designates a house localised on a f o tageàst eetàa dàitàisài te esti gàtồu de li ềthatàthề o dà tiền àalsoà ea sà o e in Vietnamese Even urban authorities validated this principle by evaluating land property taxes based on the same criterion Land use property tax is based on four types of location: from type – land fronting a street with good vehicle access – to – land having extremely limited access (Decree on Land Pricing, 188/ND-CP, 2004, article 10) The Economic and Social Imperatives of Street Access HồChiàMi hàCit ’sàhisto i alàfeatu ềpa tl àe plai sà h ostàofàitsà it àd elle sàa eàstillà e elu ta tàtồli ềi an apartment building, since it immediately results in loosing trade capacity Surveys conducted both among people living in inner city alleyways and in resettlement high-rise building sites illustrate this feeling well2 This, in turn, explains the failure of the resettlement to high-rise buildings after the implementation of an urban project3 Public place is therefore considered as a resource intuitively used to meet various needs Indeed, not only is the street a place of business, but residents have also become accustomed to considering their doorsteps and street as a natural extension of their own homes (Drummond, 2002) As a result, various domestic activities, such as ooki g,à doi gà o e’sà lau d ,à i stalli gà o a e talà pla tsà o u i gà oti eà o je ts,à take place directly on the st eetsàofàHoàChiàMi hàCit àT adi gào àthềst eetào ào e’sàdoo stepàhasàalsồ ee ềofàthềo l a sàtoàea a living in post-reform Vietnam when many people had lost their state sector positions The renewal of the private sector in the Vietnamese economy is thus strongly characterised by small and very small businesses4 A riot of ad ertisi g o erhead, a l e of traders elo , e ery alley ay a pote tial oodle stall a d e ery shady tree a possi le ar er’s shop (Hayton, 2010) Obtaining official usage rights on a plot of land has indeed been highly regulated by the government since 1975 in Ho Chi Minh City, with the establishment of the residency registration system (hộ khẩu) This system aims to control and limit rural migrations to the city Being registered in a ward (phường) requires many administrative procedures Surveys show that many residents find these procedures too complex and unpredictable The burden of being closed off from city life and its amenities is however counter- ala edà theà ke s’à elati el f eeà accessibility to the streets since economic liberalization This right to street access is highly unequal but nevertheless remains aàke àstepàtồthề ightàtồthề it People surveyed mostly insist on the importance on private land as a form of investment in Vietnam and explain that the st eet’sàa essi ilit o stitutesàầ ajo ite iầtồassessàthề aluềofàa house For example, in 2000, four years after the end of the resettlement programme of the Nhiêu Lộc - Thị Nghè canal project, more than 70% of the households had resold their apartment and left the resettlement building (Castiglioni, Cusset and Gubry, 2006) Ha to o side sàthatà ediu àa dàs allàsizedà usi essesàstillà ep ese tà à%àofàtheà ou t ’sà usi essesà Ha to ,à Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus PART II “TREET“’ “PATIAL ORGANISATION AND URBAN RHYTHMS Despite antagonistic morphological conceptions, both the main streets and the alleyways create a strong commercial matrix for Ho Chi Minh City Fairly conventional main thoroughfares are the scenes of semispecialised or specialised trade, such as the sale of furniture, video products and labelled cosmetics Their catchment area can be quite extended, while alleyways are the scenes of daily proximity trade In larger streets, the displayed products often occupy both the eadthàofàtheà uildi g’sàg ou dàfloo àasà ellàasàtheàst ategi àshopà frontage and street sidewalk The sidewalk can serve both as the continuity of the shop -it usually exhibits new goods or promotions- or can simply be converted into a motorcycle parking lot for customers Perhaps paradoxically according to Western conceptions of the street, one use that is not associated with Ho Chi Minh City streets is strolling When city dwellers want to walk, they tend to prefer parks and often walk around the park with an athletic approach, rather than with the intention of strolling Though the alleyways of Ho Chi Minh City are places of trade, their functional organisation has a different nature The alleyways are characterised by their lack of sidewalk, which does not prevent them from having a strong commercial use but requires a different spatial organisation The households with small shops on the ground floor use the space in front of their houses to display goods or install tables and chairs if they own a coffee shop Alleyways are most of all defined by the presence of hawkers or temporary market places that succeed each other throughout the day (fig.3) Crossroads are considered the most strategic place to invest in, and every blind wall is o side edà ầ lo atio tồ eà f eel usedà fo t ade.à Theà alle a s’à u a spa eà o espo dsà tồ hatà thề u a sociologist Tơn Nữ Qu nh T ide tifiesà asà theà uietà it asà opposedà tồ thề d a i it ofà ajo a te iesà (Qu nh Trân, 2007) This distinction is mainly based upon the criterion of urban rhythm Figure The Spatial Organization of Commercial Activities Along Alleyways in district O se i gàthề altzàofàHồChiàMi hàCit ’sàa ti itiesàallo sào ềtồu de sta dàthềfu tio i g of their polyvalent nature In such a dense city where space is a rare and precious commodity, juggling with urban rhythm is the only way to allow every type of city dweller to benefit from everything the city has to offer (fig.4) Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus Figure Ide tifi atio àa dàRep ese tatio àofàDail àU a àRh th sào àHoàChiàMi hàCit ’s Alleyways The Case Study of 248/ 138 Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩ hàálle a This analysis shows that trade cannot simply be considered as a threat to public space On the contrary, these a ti itiesàa ềầt pềofàgua a teềfo àu a àso ialài lusio àa dàfo àe e àd elle ’sà ightàtồthề it àFo àthềlastà decade, the authorities have nevertheless questioned this specific urbanity, on that mainly results from forty ea sàofàspo ta eousàu a àde elop e t.àTheàu geàfo ode izatio àisài deedà halle gi gàtheàst eets’à apa it tồoffe àầ ightàtồthề it àtồe e àe o o i àa ti it àa dàcity dweller PART III NEW REGULATIONS AND CONCEPTIONS CHALLENGING THE STREET’“ MULTIPLE U“E“ The urban authorities have recently expressed a sturdy will to regulate, control, and plan the urbanization process This has occurred through the application of various innovative regulations and by the preparation of new master city plans5 It is enlightening to decipher the effects of these new regulations at the local scale and to fo usào àtheà e ulesà ega di gàthềst eets’àuses,à hi hà eakà ithàầ u er of former practices Focusing both o theseà egulatio sà a dà o it d elle s’à e u a p a ti esà taki gà pla e,à allo sà usà tồ o se ề thề o goi gà p o essàofàaàst i te àdisti tio et ee àtheà atego iesàofà pu li àa dà p i ate The first Master Plan for Ho Chi Minh City was validated in 1993 Since then, it has been reviewed and followed by detailed Master Plans for the planning of new urban areas, such as Phú Mỹ Hưng or Thủ Thiêm areas In addition, the land law of àa dàtheàu a àpla i gàla àofà àa eàa o gà ajo àlegislati eàtu sài àtheàu a àpla i g’sà o eptio Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus New Street Regulations for a Ci ilised City The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are also places of expression for the authorities: large banners and official regulatory signs are multiplying along streets and alleyways These colorful elements are part of the street landscape and e phati all i itề it d elle sà tồ eha ề i aà ultu al a dà i ilized a o theà st eet.à Mode izatio Xây dự g đô thị ă i h, hiệ đại) has indeed become a key concept and requires the respect of a series of criteria laid down by the government and its local representatives Among these criteria, the proper uses of what a civilized street should be are very informative as to the vision of the street for tomorrow The main objective of these propaganda campaigns is to regulate the activities in the street and to clarify what must stay in theàdo esti àsphe e.àThus,àthe eàisàa àag ee e tào àthề ode e essit àtồde easềthềfootp i t of trade stands on the sidewalks and roads, and avoid the presence of hawkers It is nevertheless important to recall that most of these new regulations not yet have the value of a law and remain indicative But these official programmes remain the indicator of the main future trend of considering and regulating the streets In order to systematize the respect shown to different social criteria of what is appropriate on the street, the government launched a programme in the late 1990s to improve the implementation of new regulations at the e àlo alàs alesàofàtheàhouseholdàa dàtheà it lo kà Gia đì h ă hố, Khu phố ă hố ) If a household meets atà leastà %à ofà theà p og a eà e ui e e ts,à ità isà de la edà aà ultu alà fa il a dà e a dedà ithà a offi ialà certificate Furthermore, a neighbourhood block that counts more than 80% of cultural families is recognized as a cultural neighbourhood and is awarded a conspicuous sign, which is placed at its entrance One chief of a neighbourhood unit6 (Tổ Dân phố) in Phú Nhuậ Dist i tà e plai sà thatà theà ost important is to avoid people th o i gà thei ga ageà o theà st eet,à ua elli gà et ee eigh ou s,à o t adi gà i pu li spa es He highlighted the official rules displayed directly on the street near the local news board This same local chief describesàhisà olềasà ầst eetà ediato àThềeffe tsàofàthisàoffi ialàp og a eàa eà e e thelessà i i izedà àtheà fact that once a neighbourhood has been rewarded with an official gate, it is never taken down In addition, an investigation with different real estate developers in the same district reveals that status as cultural neighbourhood does not affect land prices Thềst eet’sàusesà e ai l àầtopi àofà egotiatio sàa dàlo alàa a ge e tsà Koh,à àNe e theless,à hatàisà still possible in the local alleys is sometimes no longer possible in the main streets of the city centre, where the authorities care more about the image of the city, which is displayed to the visitors Studying the evolution of the Turtle Lake area in the very heart of district 1, Erik Harms underlines that since the organisation of the Southeast Asian games in 2003, the authorities have succeeded in clearing this popular place of the many small street coffee-stands that characterized the Turtle Lake (Harms, 2001) Towards New Street Conceptions In conjunction with the diffusion of new regulations concerning the uses of the street, city authorities have been conducting an ambitious program of urban renewal for around ten years (VUUP) This programme aims to modernize the built environment of the street and includes providing systematic enlargement patterns This programme, conducted both on the main structure of the city streets and in the alleyways in the very hearts of city blocks, is thought to be a major and necessary response to the recurring problems of street congestion It is true that the exponential increase in the number of motorcycles and cars travelling the streets each day makes It is the smallest unit of administrative control in the city and corresponds often to one alley At this scale, everyone knows everyone especially into such a dense morphological urban configuration The chief of the neighbourhood unit plays a role of go-between for the inhabitants and the sub-district authorities Survey conducted in May 2010 Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus the issue of traffic flow very difficult in Ho Chi Minh City8 The lack of secondary roads and the dual city pattern explains that the local alleyways are increasingly used by motorcycle drivers during morning and evening rush hours The usage conflicts that emerge from the competition between road traffic and commercial or social uses of the alle a ’sàspa eàa eà egula l ela edà àtheàp ess9 In this regard, the authorities have decided to improve theà ualit àofà it àt affi àu de taki gàầp oje tàtồ ide àthềst eets,à oupledà ithàtighte egulatio àofàst eet’à side uses References to the functionalist movement are recurrent in interviews with district leaders and officials of the Department of Transportation The best incarnation of this model of urban development in Ho Chi Minh City is without question the organization of new suburbs, which are designed and implemented from scratch and o i i gà isio sàofàầ it àthatà a tsàtồ ề ode PART IV THE VIETNAMESE STREET IN TRANSITION, A HYBRID MODEL The E ergi g Middle Class’ Ne Ur a Pra ti es Political management and official regulations or programmes are not the only catalysts in the contemporary levers of the public versus private spaces dynamic The functionalist urban planning that the authorities are aiming for in Ho Chi Minh City streets today is fits with the new expectations of the emerging urban middle class E ikà Ha sà u de li esà fo àe a pleà theà i te esti gà o e ge eà et ee theà autho ities’à illà ofà o t olli gà a dà lea i g àtheàpu li àspa eà ithàtheà e àaspi atio sàofàtheà iddleà lass to protect their interests (Harms, 2001) This social category, very emblematic of recent Vietnamese development, has recently accessed new property rights, especially since the land law of 2003 Thus, they are now more willing to support a clearer distinction between public space and private space in order to strictly identify what is their own private property The most visible spatial incarnation of this new trend is be the ostentatious gates that certain households erect in front of their houses (fig 5) The border between public and private space is now fixed and more than symbolically marked According to the Department of transports, there were more than millions of motorbikes and 400 000 cars registered in Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 Fo àe a ple:à Kẹt xe TP.HCM: Bầm giập hẻm dân lập T affi àja sài àHồChiàMi hàCit :àthềda agề ausedàtồthềalle s’à eigh ou hoods ,àNgười lao động, dec 2009 Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus Figure New Gates in Front of Houses: Towards a Clearer Boarder Between Private and Public Space Most of the households erecting gates not own shops in their houses but work in a different area Their lifestyle is quite different from that of the traditional small business owners of the alleyways Most of the time, they commute to offices and shops in the inner districts of the city This emergence of daily commuting on a mass scale affects the relationship between the residents and their neighbourhood Residential strategies are now changing among the middle class that is looking for bigger lots and high value investments on urban land Phú Nhuận district, ward 13, is a good example of this evolution of the alleyways in Ho Chi Minh City today This district is one of the most advanced in the implementation of the enlargement of alleyway projects The i te ie sà o du tedài àalle a àL àVă à“ĩàdu i gàtheà o st u tio àpe iodàsho àthatà ostàofàtheà iddle-class residents agree that this project is going to increase the value of their land, even though they loose one or two meters in front of their house10 This evolution is much more criticized by the households running a business in the alley or who own a small house, as they cannot sustain the loss of a part of their house These tensions as well as the different opinions on the necessity of this urban programme highlight the divergence of interests between the residents, which depends on how much they have to rely on trade to survive The notion of a neighbourhood community is therefore questioned, and the emergence of individualistic practices clearly contributes to the new definition of private and public spaces These trends have just began to impact the development of the alleyways On the contrary, the fixed border between private and public spaces has immediately been identified as a fundamental principle in the new peripheral urban zones, where functionalism has been the basis of the urban matrix This emerging trend has nevertheless been balanced out by the very creative ways in which people negotiate these major changes 10 Interviews conducted in June 2010 Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus A Negociated Street in the Course of Transition This urban process is still incomplete and the current situation creates many hybrid cases A business man who has installed a massive gate in front of his house and works in the business district might continue to enjoy his morning beverage at a sidewalk coffee stand And a shop owner who closes his shop space with a window may continue to display certain goods outside There are many examples of these hybrid uses of the street today The multitude of individual actions carried out day after day creates strong links between the people and their urban e i o e t,à i aà p o essà ofà ge.à Mi helà dề Ce teau’sà ideầ ofà ta ti fitsà e ellà theà d elle s’à e e da strategies to impose their vision of the street in a non-democratic context By altering the street, by adapting it to their needs, the people are involved in the construction of the city itself In this way, the people manage to establish a form of continuity in their habits during a period of a significant rupture with the past It is precisely through these habits that the genesis of the city takesàpla ềi àHồChiàMi hàCit àO ềe a pleàofàtheseà ta ti s àisà the implementation of first floor balconies by the inhabitants of the alleys that have been widened In doing this, the residents are taking advantage of loopholes in urban regulations about the widening of streets and only respect the compulsory new width on the ground floor (fig.6) Figure The spontaneous implementation of first floor balconies in a widened alley: àe a pleàofàa u a àta ti ài àt a sitio alàHoàChiàMi hàCit Whatever the urban evolutions may be and despite the construction of many malls along the main boulevards, Ho Chià Mi hà Cit isà stillà e st o gl ide tifiedà itsà st eetà ultu e Theà a e àto e sà appea i gà i àtheà it centre all open shops on their ground floor for example, a fairly different model from Hong Kong, illustrating the capacity of the streets to sustain the deep economic and urban transformations and to smoothly integrate new urban development tendencies Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author 10 THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus CONCLUSION Theà e olutio ofà theà useà ofà theà st eetsà i Hoà Chià Mi hà Cit allo sà tồ dis ussà thề o eptio ofà p i ate a dà pu li atego ài o te po a àu a àViet a àThề apa it àofàst eetsàtồ el o ềầ idề a geàofàpeopleàa dà activities is linked to both the morphological frame of the city and the specific spatiotemporal organization of the streets in Ho Chi Minh City For the last decade, the authorities have nevertheless questioned this specific urbanity The urge for modernization is indeed challenging the st eets’à apa it tồ offe ầ ightà tồthề it tồ every economic activity and city dweller But political management and official regulations or programmes are not the only catalysts in the contemporary levers of the public versus private space dynamic The functionalist urban planning for which the authorities are aiming in Ho Chi Minh City streets today is actually in tune with the new expectations of the emerging urban middle class, who has newly acquired extended land property rights These trends seem to contribute to an increasing distinction between the private and public spheres and the functions they are associated with The methods used to make it happen place very little importance on the local environments and the habits of the local people who a ề o st edàtồadaptàtồầ ode it àthatàhasà ee ài posedà àoffi ialdo àNe e theless,à it would be wrong to think that the citizens see themselves as being excluded from the processes of urban change On the contrary, they have the capacity to appropriate and often to alter urban projects and features of theà it ,à hi hà o t i utềtồ uildi gàthềst eet’sàide tit e àaàlo gàpe iodàofàti e.à REFERENCES Billard, G., Chevalier, J., Madoré, F., 2005 Ville fermée, ville surveillée฀: la sécurisation des espaces résidentiels en France et en Amérique du Nord, Géographie sociale Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes Bou hot,àJ.,à àDo u e tsàpou àse i àl’histoi eàdeà“aigo ฀: 1859 1865 Éditions Albert Portail, Sai฀gon Castiglioni, F., Cusset, J.-M., Gubry, P (Eds.), 2006 La ville vietnamienne en transition Institut des Métiers de la Ville, Hanoi DeàCe teau,àM.,àGia d,àL.,àMa ol,àP.,à àL’i e tio àduà uotidie àá tsàdeàFai e.àGalimard, Paris Decroly, J.-M., Dessouroux, C., Van Criekingen, M (Eds.), 2003 Privatisation of Urban Spaces in Contemporary European Cities Belgeo, Revue belge de géographie 1, 113 Drummond, L.B.W., 2000 Street Scenes: Practices of Public and Private Space in Urban Vietnam Urban Studies 37, 2377–2391 Ghorra-Gobin, C (Ed.), 2001 Réinventer le sens de la ville฀:àlesàespa esàpu li sà àl’heu eàglo ale.àL’Ha atta ,à Paris Goh, D.P.S., Bunnell, T., 2013 Recentering Southeast Asian Cities International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 37, 825–833 Goldblum, C., 1985 Compartiments chinois et chinatowns, matrices de la villeà ode e e ásieà duà “ud-Est E oleàd’a hite tu eàdeàPa is-Villemin, Paris Gourdon, J.-L., 2001 La rue฀:àessaiàsu àl’ o o iềdềlầfo ều e.àEd.àdềl’áu e,àLầTou àd’áigues Ha s,à E.,à Viet a ’sà Ci ilizi gàP o essà a dà theà Ret eatà f o theà “t eet:à áàTu tle’sà E eà Vie F o Hoà Chià Minh City City & Society 21, 182–206 Hayton, B., 2010 Vietnam฀: Rising Dragon Yale University Press, New Haven and London Heng, C.K., Low, B.L (Eds.), 2010 On Asian streets and public space฀: selected essays from Great Asian Streets Symposiums (GASS) & Ridge Books, National University of Singapore, Singapore Jacobs, A.B., 1995 Great Streets MIT Press, Cambridge Koh, D.W.H., 2006 Wards of Hanoi ISEAS, Singapore Lefebvre, H., 1968 Le droit la ville Anthropos, Paris Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author 11 THE 8TH ASIAN GRADUATE FORUM ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, SINGAPORE (22 - 26 JULY 2013) Organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Held at Faculty of Law, Block B Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, National University of Singapore @ Bukit Timah Campus Qu hàT ,àT.N.,à àVă àho àhẻm phố Sài Gòn – thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Nhà xuát Tổng hợp, Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh Sitte, C., 1889 L’a tàdề ti àlesà illes฀:àl’u a is eàselo àsesàfo de e tsàa tisti ues.àÉditio sàduà“euil,àPa is Thomas, M., 2001 Public Spaces/Public Disgraces: Crowds and the State in Contemporary Vietnam Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia (SOJOURN) 16, 306–330 Thomas, M., 2002 Out of Control: Emergent Cultural Landscapes and Political Change in Urban Vietnam Urban Studies 39, 1611–1624 Draft Copy – Not to be Quoted Without Permission from the Author 12 ... most of these new regulations not yet have the value of a law and remain indicative But these official programmes remain the indicator of the main future trend of considering and regulating the streets. .. for a Ci ilised City The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are also places of expression for the authorities: large banners and official regulatory signs are multiplying along streets and alleyways These... predate the housing frames, but rather they are the result of informal settlements and historical densification processes Faced with the lack of available land, the urban form of the shop house