Urban Green Areas – their functions under a changing lifestyle of ...
Urban Green Areas – their functions under a changing lifestyle of ... Urban Green Areas – their functions under a changing lifestyle of ...
households. Many people went to parks for more public light and natural cooler air” (EXPRT-E 2012). “Recently there were few children in parks; those had too little space at home. It was not because parks were interesting for them, but rather the opposite” (EXPERT-G 2011). “Air conditioning is another technology along with the landscape, which contributes to the separation of the middle class from the rest of society.” (DRUMMOND 2012: 88–89). This is what DRUMMOND calls “inside-out” (DRUMMOND 2000: 2378). In the 1980s and 1990s, the average house size in square meters was very low, lower than 6 square meters per person. As a consequence, people were lacking private space and they searched for free space outside their house by going to parks, for example. (HAI 2005: 88). 10 8 6 4 2 0 8 6.7 4.5 0.37 2.16 3.5 1954 1965 1980 1990 1991 1992 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2010 square metter of living house /person million of inhabitants Figure 5.5: Living area in square meter per person in Hanoi Source: HAI (2005: 88) The growth of private residential houses, indicated in figure 5.5, occurs in the outlying districts of Hanoi – the enlargement of flats in inner Hanoi is not as strong! Thus people still need to go to public spaces due to small and low quality private flats. 5.2.4 Political awareness and civil rights For over two decades, Vietnam has been undergoing a shift from a closed economy with a top-down planning process to an open-market economy with rapid urbanisation in its big cities. This transformation is also affected by globalization with “flows of ideas, capital and products” (THOMAS DRUMMOND 2003: 15). As consequence, on the one hand, “many of the institutional structures are being put under threat and the ideas about what constitute contemporary Vietnamese identity are being continually contested and re-negotiated”; on the other hand, the gap between the wealthy and poor or the middle-classes as well as the gradual questioning “of state control over the activities of the populace” increases (THOMAS/DRUMMOND 2003: 15). 111
As the economy grows – Vietnam’s goal is to be an industrialized country by 2030 – participation seems to be not only necessary but inevitable in any political process. LE Kuan Yew, Singapore’s president, argued 20 years ago already (1991): “Once you reach a certain level of industrial progress, you have got an educated workforce, an urban population, you have managers and engineers. Then you must have participation because these are educated, rational people. If you carry on with an authoritarian system, you will run into all kinds of logjams.” Thus many NGOs come to Vietnam to support the Vietnamese government with advanced policy from developed countries. They also collaborate with local citizens and experts to change the political system. Recently, several NGOs worked with the Vietnamese government to develop planning processes as well as to provide tools and establish frameworks to support the development of participation processes. For instance, Health Bridge and UN Habitat assist the government in policy-making and public forums (Hanoi public city) and public bodies (Ashui, an architecture forum) provide platforms for citizens to criticize policies, plans and the cities’ news. Nowadays you can observe situations where Hanoians raise their voices about urban plans or to complain about abuses. An current example is the collective claims concerning a children’s playground close to a housing area (EXPERT-F 2012). This has been achieved by using the new communication channel of social media. The vanguards, those who first debate against irrational plans, are architects, scientists and other well-educated people. Of course, these do not represent the majority of inhabitants. But nevertheless, it is a first step and gives other people examples, ideas and also courage to discuss and to call for more transparency. Slowly, there are more and more people who are well educated and well behaved in the community; these vanguards drive to new trend of lifestyle by which people make claims better for society’s needs. Through lifestyle changes, people learn how to claim for their own demands. Everyday topics (body, health, exercise, weight, appearance and vitality) are commonly conversed and advice exchanged (see CRAIG 2002). Moreover, the fast development of technology – internet platforms, social networks, etc. – delivers useful tools for raising citizen’s opinions. There are already websites about parks in Hanoi (for instance, http://60s.com.vn/V-Congvien-Hanoi.aspx#top) and even a single website for the big park (Thong Nhat). However, their function is just to introduce the parks; it is not a platform for people to comment or to improve those parks. Sufficient conditions to ensure “that government at the local level can become more responsive to citizen desires and more effective in service delivery” and finally ‘democratic 112
- Page 81 and 82: y religion, e.g.: catholic lifestyl
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- Page 89 and 90: eality, each activity is done to sa
- Page 91 and 92: 4 Recent utilization of parks and g
- Page 93 and 94: (% of the time) 70 60 50 40 30 20 1
- Page 95 and 96: area (m 2 ) The collected data by t
- Page 97 and 98: (% of the entire week) 4.1.5 Expert
- Page 99 and 100: share of park users every hour 16%
- Page 101 and 102: These findings can be understood by
- Page 103 and 104: Social statuses of the visitors mig
- Page 105 and 106: Others, 5.8% from work/ school/ uni
- Page 107 and 108: Share of means of transportation 10
- Page 109 and 110: Regarding the age of visitors it ca
- Page 111 and 112: less frequent park users are higher
- Page 113 and 114: People walking (13 % of observed ac
- Page 115 and 116: From the point of view of park user
- Page 117 and 118: Figure 4.25 shows the high priority
- Page 119 and 120: missing entertainment facilities. m
- Page 121 and 122: 4.5.2 Troubles / Disturbances It se
- Page 123 and 124: 5 Expected future demand of urban g
- Page 125 and 126: ights (e.g. regarding urban plannin
- Page 127 and 128: Picture 5.1 c: Skating (Own picture
- Page 129 and 130: But urban areas are meanwhile total
- Page 131: organize activities and sports whic
- Page 135 and 136: countries, the result is that lifes
- Page 137 and 138: media”, like newspapers, take inf
- Page 139 and 140: environmental functions cause costs
- Page 141 and 142: Yes, the demand of public UGAs in i
- Page 143 and 144: Such a master plan has to clarify t
- Page 145 and 146: 7 Summary As a booming city, Hanoi
- Page 147 and 148: among both countries’ parks and V
- Page 149 and 150: Reference ABKLAR, Mahdieh; KAMAL, M
- Page 151 and 152: COCKERHAM, William; RUTTEN, A.; ABE
- Page 153 and 154: GIDDENS, Anthony (1991). Modernity
- Page 155 and 156: Department of Psychology, Universit
- Page 157 and 158: LUONG, Le To; STEINGRUBE, Wilhelm (
- Page 159 and 160: NGHIEM, Dao Ngoc (2011). Hanoi arch
- Page 161 and 162: STOXPLUS (Financial Media Corporati
- Page 163 and 164: VUONG, Tran Quoc (2000). Vietnamese
- Page 165 and 166: TUYEN, Trương Hữu “Planting u
- Page 167 and 168: Appendix 3: Gates’ location and t
- Page 169 and 170: In 1985, the status of Lenin in 5.2
- Page 171 and 172: Appendix 6: Counting sheet H
- Page 173 and 174: Appendix 8: Questionnaire (Vietname
- Page 177: Vietnamese version: https://docs.go
households. Many people went to parks for more public light and natural cooler air”<br />
(EXPRT-E 2012). “Recently there were few children in parks; those had too little space at<br />
home. It was not because parks were interesting for them, but rather the opposite”<br />
(EXPERT-G 2011).<br />
“Air conditioning is another technology along with the landscape, which contributes to the<br />
separation <strong>of</strong> the middle class from the rest <strong>of</strong> society.” (DRUMMOND 2012: 88<strong>–</strong>89). This<br />
is what DRUMMOND calls “inside-out” (DRUMMOND 2000: 2378).<br />
In the 1980s and 1990s, the average house size in square meters was very low, lower than 6<br />
square meters per person. As a consequence, people were lacking private space and they<br />
searched for free space outside <strong>their</strong> house by going to parks, for example. (HAI 2005: 88).<br />
10<br />
8<br />
6<br />
4<br />
2<br />
0<br />
8<br />
6.7<br />
4.5<br />
0.37 2.16<br />
3.5<br />
1954 1965 1980 1990 1991 1992 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2010<br />
square metter <strong>of</strong> living house /person<br />
million <strong>of</strong> inhabitants<br />
Figure 5.5: Living area in square meter per person in Hanoi<br />
Source: HAI (2005: 88)<br />
The growth <strong>of</strong> private residential houses, indicated in figure 5.5, occurs in the outlying<br />
districts <strong>of</strong> Hanoi <strong>–</strong> the enlargement <strong>of</strong> flats in inner Hanoi is not as strong! Thus people<br />
still need to go to public spaces due to small and low quality private flats.<br />
5.2.4 Political awareness and civil rights<br />
For over two decades, Vietnam has been <strong>under</strong>going a shift from a closed economy with a<br />
top-down planning process to an open-market economy with rapid urbanisation in its big<br />
cities. This transformation is also affected by globalization with “flows <strong>of</strong> ideas, capital and<br />
products” (THOMAS DRUMMOND 2003: 15). As consequence, on the one hand, “many<br />
<strong>of</strong> the institutional structures are being put <strong>under</strong> threat and the ideas about what constitute<br />
contemporary Vietnamese identity are being continually contested and re-negotiated”; on<br />
the other hand, the gap between the wealthy and poor or the middle-classes as well as the<br />
gradual questioning “<strong>of</strong> state control over the activities <strong>of</strong> the populace” increases<br />
(THOMAS/DRUMMOND 2003: 15).<br />
111
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