Vauban-style Cities Heritage in Vietnam: Cultural Values and Current Protection Situation

Abstract

From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, there was a model of ancient city that merged with the construction idea of ​​East Asian cities and the Vauban military technology of Western citadel , being called “Vauban-style " cities by historian. Starting with the construction of Jiading City (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1789, they gradually evolved into a model and covered the entire Vietnamese territory. These cities not only reflect Vietnamese people learning Chinese and French planning ideas and technology based on their own needs, it also shows how to integrate multiple foreign cultures to adapt to the local cultural environment. They are traditional cultural heritage in Vietnam, and also in line with the spirit of the World Cultural Heritage, and have great planning and cultural values.At present, there are at least 39 existing cities, of which the two sites of Hanoi and Hue have been listed in the World Cultural Heritage, and some are listed in the national or provincial heritage. However, there are also many sites which were ignored by the government, or were eroded by rapid urbanization, such as Hai Duong Provincial City, Thanh Hoa Provincial City, and Nha Trang. In addition, the lack of a systematic, networked heritage protection system, in-depth and holistic perspectives are also main influencing factors.Based on the perspective of planning history, firstly, this paper introduces construction background, particularity of form of Vauban-style cities, analyzes their cultural influence factors. Secondly, the existing city sites and preservation methods are counted, and the limitations of the existing single-cell preservation methods are revealed by taking the world cultural heritage of Hanoi and Hue as examples. Finally, the planning heritage concept and value identification framework of these cities are proposed.