VietNamNet
Bridge – The authorities of Hoan Kiem
district, Hanoi, have finalized a plan to move 1,800 households in Hanoi’s Old
Quarter to the Viet Hung residential area in Long Bien district from now to
2015.
The
district will invest nearly VND4 trillion (around $200 million) to build 17
apartment buildings and public facilities on 11 hectares of land in the Viet
Hung residential area over four years. Residents in the Old Quarters will be
settled in these buildings immediately when construction is complete.
Families
who live in valuable old houses which must be preserved or in old houses with
average area of less than 5sq.m for person will be allowed to buy an apartment
with average area of 20sq.m/person, at soft price. They will be exempted from
land use fee. They will have to pay commercial price for the excessive area.
Those
who sell or lease their apartments to return to their houses in the Old Quarter
will have their apartments revoked and be fined.
People
who buy apartments must commit to register their residency at the new place.
Residents
in the Old Quarter can only transferred their houses to those who live in the
same houses or the nearby houses and the buyers must be permanent residents in
the Old Quarter.
The
plan aims to reduce the population density in the Old Quarter--from 823 people/hectare
to 500 people/hectare by 2020.
From
now to 2020, Hoan Kiem district will have to move around 6,550 families,
totaling over 26,000 people out of the Old Quarter.
As the oldest continuously developed area of
Vietnam, Hanoi's Old Quarter has a history that spans 2,000 years and
represents the eternal soul of the city. Located between the Lake of the
Restored Sword, the Long Bien Bridge, a former city rampart, and a citadel
wall, the Old Quarter started as a snake and alligator-infested swamp. It later
evolved into a cluster of villages made up of houses on stilts, and was unified
by Chinese administrators who built ramparts around their headquarters. The
area was named "Dominated Annam" or "Protected South" by
the Chinese.
The Old Quarter began to acquire its
reputation as a crafts area when the Vietnamese attained independence in the
11th century and King Ly Thai To build his palace there. In the early 13th
century, the collection of tiny workshop villages which clustered around the
palace walls evolved into craft cooperatives, or guilds. Skilled craftsmen
migrated to the Quarter, and artisan guilds were formed by craftsmen
originating from the same village and performing similar services. Members of
the guilds worked and lived together, creating a cooperative system for
transporting merchandise to the designated streets in the business quarter.
Because inhabitants of each street came from
the same village, streets developed a homogeneous look. Commoners' homes
evolved out of market stalls, before streets were formed. Because storekeepers
were taxed according to the width of their storefront, storage and living space
moved to the rear of the buildings. Consequently, the long and narrow buildings
were called "tube houses." Typical measurements for such houses are 3
meters wide by 60 meters long.
The Old Quarter has a rich religious
heritage. When the craftsmen moved from outlying villages into the capital,
they brought with them their religious practices. They transferred their
temples, pagodas and communal houses to their new location. Each guild has one
or two religious structures and honors its own patron saint or founder.
Therefore, on each street in the Old Quarter there is at least one temple. Now,
many of the old temples in the Old Quarter have been transformed into shops and
living quarters, but some of the old buildings' religious roots can still be
recognized by the architecture of their roofs.
Although the old section of Hanoi is often
called the "36 Old Streets," there are more than 36 actual streets.
Some researchers believe that the number 36 came from the 15th century when
there might have been 36 guild locations, which were workshop areas, not
streets. When streets were later developed, the guild names were applied to the
streets. Others attribute the 36 to a more abstract concept. The number nine in
Asia represents the concept of "plenty." Nine times the four
directions makes 36, which simply means "many." There are now more
than 70 streets in the area.
Some streets have achieved fame by their
inclusion in popular guidebooks. Hang Gai Street offers silk clothing
ready-made and tailored, embroidery, and silver products. Hang Quat, the street
that formerly sold silk and feather fans, now stuns the visitor by its
brilliantly colored funeral and festival flags and religious objects and
clothing. To Thinh Street connects the above two and is still the wood turner's
street. Hang Ma glimmers with shiny paper products, such as gift wrappings,
wedding decorations and miniature paper objects to burn for the dead. Lan Ong
Street is a sensual delight of textures and smells emanating from the sacks of
herbal medicinal products: leaves, roots, barks, and powders.
Mai Lan
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