| Title |
Imperialistic Cityscape of Hanoi in the Colonial Period |
| Keywords |
Hanoi ; Vietnam ; Imperialism ; Vista ; Urban Space |
| Abstract |
The history of Vietnam is dotted with many invasions from outside and Vietnamese' heroic resistances against them. The most powerful influence on the modern city of Hanoi had come from French Colonialism since 1874. From then on, French Colonialism had destroyed traditional pre-colonial cityscapes of Hanoi and tried to integrate the whole city under the French order. French colonialism used the vistas of streets focused on the monumental buildings to show the superiority of French culture and civilization in the everyday urban space. This study has identified some distinctive districts which is strongly connected with aspects of Modernity. In specific district, there are closely located some public and monumental buildings of the similar function and characteristic. After analyzing the historical change of streets in Hanoi, this study argues that the French Colonialism used scattered, or rather, impromptu vistas by means of relatively short streets instead of grand vistas due to lack of financial support and continuity of colonial governments. |