Final Review - Introduction

Final Review - VISIONS

CULTIVATING a structure.

The soil of the Red River Delta is a very precious and fertile resource. Can we give direction to or change the patterns of urbanisation, on a large and smaller scale, by allowing vegetation to grow in certain selected areas? How can – fruitful, inviting or harsh - green fields be given a strong presence so that they keep urban sprawl in check? Which kind of different uses can be made of green fields, how can we cultivate these uses and integrate some of the resulting fields as part of the urban setting of the Delta? Can a more conscious cultivation of particular mosaics of vegetation guide the growth of the Delta in a determined direction?

Vegetation can have a directing and guiding impact on urbanization if it is given a strong character:
- big natural or cultivated tropical rainforest as protecting environment for a variety of non-human species.
- ecological corridor: green structure functioning both on a local and a regional level that connects forests, mountains and river systems.
- flood plain park: large green field beside a river that is flooded during the wet season and that combines production, ecology and recreation.
- timber field: large wood used for wood production.
- edge park: green urban space that has a recreational and ecological function and that defines the end of urbanisation in a gradual or soft way.
- linear forest: like timber field, but along linear infrastructures to prevent uncontrolled urbanisation into the agricultural landscape.
- park field: hybrid green open space that has the formal character and diversity of an urban park but that also integrates agricultural uses.

B(l)ending with the water.

For the city of Hanoi and the Red River Delta, water is both a blessing and a curse. Is it possible to (re)invent cities to actively respond to abrupt and gradual changes in water levels? Besides fast flood discharge and water dilution, what qualities can be added to the urban environment if we give more space to the natural flow of rivers? Can we make the water (once again) an important productive force? If we look at the historical/ cultural importance of rivers, ponds and lakes can we again approach these water bodies as attracting cultural mediators that can guide urbanisation?

In the Red River Delta, different water-bodies can be approached as structural and integrating components of the urban setting:
- Red River flood pocket: water space compensation for urban land taken from the Red River flood plain.
- urban edge lake: lake that pauses blanket urbanisation creating a point of transition for alternative development patterns (reservoir, flood retention, park lake, ground water recharge, …).
- urban void lake: to secure open space prior to the advent of intense urbanisation a water body is excavated, also to make use of the soil for urban or rural development.
- urban wetland: green field that is used for urban water management, storm drainage and seasonal irrigation.
- productive canal: irrigation infrastructure for intense agricultural production.
- flood basin: huge water body created to enhance capacity of waterways and retain water perennially. used for seasonal irrigation, as dinking reservoir, …
- industrial waterway: a system of artificial and natural waterways that facilitates transport over water of goods.
- flood plain: large field beside rivers which is flooded during the wet season.
- existing water infrastructure enhanced to create a qualitative context for development.
- aquaculture pond: small scale water body used for breeding fish and aquatic vegetables.

RAISING THE CITY

Urbanisation and urban economy are strongly interrelated. To what extent can we use new infrastructures for trade and transport to guide an integrated urbanisation process? Which ports, gates, hubs, urban or logistical platforms are needed to make the necessary relations possible between Hanoi, its region and the world? Where can they best be organised? Where can we best make use of harbour-infrastructure and selectively connect the urbanisation to the Red River and the Eastern Sea? What are strategic locations for the new urban economy to take form? How can water become a part of the new urban economy?

Hanoi and the Red River Delta obviously need to position their logistics and infrastructures strategically in order to sustain its vibrant and growing urban economy:
- transferium: large public hubs integrating different modes of transportation and forming a compact city district from where one can travel into and away from the city.
- industrial platform: huge logistical infrastructure which may include a sea or river port, where industrial goods can be processed and/or stored, before they are transported to somewhere else.
- linear city: dense city between linear infrastructures having very intense economical relations strongly connected to rail, road and new port mobility armatures.
- urban plateau: urban field – raised or not - on which a strong and dense urban programme rests.
- agricultural field: large and intensely cultivated agricultural surface, that is using an irrigation system that is traversable for small boats.
- water cleaning basin: large water bodies integrating processes by which water is cleaned.
- special hub: strategic location at the confluences of rivers, at the intersection of roads or near large-scale infrastructures (airports, ports, industrial platforms, …).

Final Review - Project 1

Water City
Between flood plain and safe grounds

Water City is a completely new urban-rural setting rising to the west of Hanoi. Since the Day and Tich Rivers are again following their natural flow, a large flood plain park extends around the city. Connected to this are irrigation canals, drainage ponds and the presence of large edge lakes. A carefully designed dyke (with both hard- and sotf-engineering) deals with the protection from floods of selected settlements that can remain in the naturally floodable area.

The tool of cut & fill is used to change the topography of the site. The basic idea is to divide the site into finger-like plateaus, their height depending on their programme and their relation to the ladder road network connecting to Hanoi via two radial roads. The development of a very dense and high-rise urban area is envisaged taking place only near the two radial roads. Low lands are optimized either as productive fields, recreation areas or as water purifying urban wetlands.

Final Review - Project 2

Red river city
When Hanoi touches the Red River

Red River City is a guided expansion of the existing urban core and is to become the southern gateway of Hanoi. At the point where Hanoi touches the Red River and dominating the regional ladder structure, a new transferium (including a HST) for Hanoi is developed. A powerful vertical programme related to the extended open space of the Red River, combined with avenues and a large urban platform give the site a very strong metropolitan presence. The development of this logistic hinge works as the urban generator creating a real estate economy that is able to sustain the development of the whole site.

To the east of the site starting from the proposed new (16m high) dyke, the large flood plain of the Red River extends, forming a soft urban field that incorporates floating houses, water-transportation, recreation and markets. Also in the north, the middle and the south, soft elements to guide urbanisation prevail: linear forests, edge parks and edge lakes.

Final Review - Project 3

Linear City
A new economic spine

Linear City is bounded by parallel bundles of road and rail infrastructure. To the east, this infrastructure forms a hard edge, but softened by a programme of linear forests, edge parks, edge lakes and wetlands. To the west, parallel to Highway N° 1, only a soft edge is cultivated.

Inside the city, a dense, mainly residential development is stimulated. Some urban growth is also possible to the east, but should be contained and developed in combination with making productive use of the land: flood pockets, urban void lakes, wetlands, agricultural fields and intensified aquaculture. West of the city is a large agricultural field.

A strong east-west connection is developed in the area of the projected airport. A new river-port is envisioned which initiates an industrial platform zone further to the south, eventually connecting with the proposed new location of the harbour on the Eastern Sea.

Mid Review - Introduction

A VISION FOR THE RED RIVER DELTA AND GREATER HANOI...

The city of Hanoi is presently facing incredible challenges related to growth: The existing urban core is well beyond its carrying capacity and infrastructure provision can simply not keep pace with urban transformations underway.

Simultaneously, there are significant challenges related to water resources: The threat posed by flooding in urban areas due to climate change and the associated rise in sea level is potentially catastrophic. In addition, there is the issue of deteriorating quality of water (rivers, canals and lakes) in and around the city.

Administratively, the city recently altered its boundaries, effectively tripling the area in question, presumably in a bid to address the question of expansion of the city. This action in itself, however seems to have sparked off a series of related events: Land use alteration (from agricultural to urban), spiraling property values, speculative property holding, increased rural-urban migration, rampant development...

Presently, the new city boundary caters for a population of 6.2 million inhabitants; Projections have it that by 2030, this number will rise to 10 million, and 15 million by 2050.

The expansion of Hanoi is therefore clearly underway, and the recent administrative alterations may just have accelerated this phenomenon. The force of urbanisation in this context is simply unstoppable. What remains crucial is the manner in which the city (and the Red River Delta at large) prepares itself to accommodate and structure the imminent.

It is well known that Hanoi has been historically structured by its contextual landscape elements- the mountains and the water. Important to note however, is the fact that the city, in its contemporary form of development, seems to have completely lost its landscape heritage, a component fundamental to its very existence as part of the Red River Delta.

Further to this, the conventional master planning approach has- time and again- proved insufficient to accommodate the growth of the city. In light of this, it is highly unlikely that yet another new master plan will address the challenges facing the city.

Consequently, therefore, is it possible to revisit landscape infrastructure as a tool to guide growth and development in Hanoi and beyond? If so, what landscape elements would be best suited to structure this expansion? What forms would these elements take, and what possibilities do they offer the Delta?

Following is a set of visions that investigate possible roles that landscape infrastructure could play in sustainable development, at the scale of the Red River Delta and Greater Hanoi.

Visions for the Red River Delta 0. Introduction

1. The basic facts of the delta:
The area of the delta is about 15,000 km2.
The delta is the 2nd large agricultural products area in Vietnam and the most dense rural area in the world (1000 persons/ha).
The two main cities, Hanoi and Hai Phong, are the 2nd and the 3rd large cities in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the largest port in Vietnam today.

2. The important location of Hanoi under the universal context:
According to the Trans Asia Rail and Trans Asia Highway plan proposed by UN, Hanoi city is the main junction of East Asia and South East Asia.
The delta and Hanoi city also play an important role about the connection with China and Laos.

3. The main infrastructures:
The main infrastructures include the water transport system, the rail system, the road system and the air transport system.
Water transport system: Hai Phong Port, Red River inland water transport system and Thai Binh River inland water transport system.
Rail system: rails to China, to Hai Phong, and to Ho Chi Minh city.
Road system: Highway NO.1 and Ho Chi Minh Highway and other roads.
Air transport system: the international airport in Hanoi and other airports nearby Hanoi and Hai Phong.

4. The development of Industrial Zones and Export Processing Zones:
Generally speaking, the Industrial Zones (IZ) and Export Processing Zones (EPZ) are located nearby the main rails or roads. In other words, they highly depend on land transport system today.
A huge new High Tech IZ in the west of Hanoi is under construction now.

5. The main natural preserve and tourist areas:
The UNESCO world heritage- Ha Long Bay
National parks
Natural preserve sites
Cultural / Historical / Environmental sites
Wetlands

Visions for the Red River Delta 1. Base Map

Visions for the Red River Delta 2. Port City

The delta has vibrant trade activities through the network of rivers, rails and roads. At today’s regional scale, the relations with the growing Chinese economy are becoming more intense, Hanoi and the delta are the main gateways, with a main port and major connection for the Indo-Chinese economy to China and even the world.

[ ISSUE 1 ]
The lack of infrastructures in delta area today causes serious traffic, economical and environmental problems. On the other hand, the connection with China is more and more important for the growing country.
1. Using the existing infrastructure in a more efficient way- upgrading the rail system and road system.
2. New transportation infrastructures- rail, road, air and water-infrastructures.
3. Using exist corridors to build new large scale transportation infrastructures.

[ ISSUE 2 ]
How to deal with the problems and threat, Hai Phong port and Hon Gai coal mines,
to the UNESCO world heritage site Ha Long Bay.
1. Introducing new major and minor infrastructures at certain strategic locations to take the pressure away from Ha Long Bay and its surrounding.
2. A new deep sea port and logistic platform connect to the city Nan Ding.
3. New industrial sites and protected urban settlements between new airport (2050) and new deep sea port will be connected with rail, road and water.
4. The water infrastructures which are used to connect new industrial settings can be used for transportation and industrial cleaning.
5. Introducing new tourist resources.

Visions for the Red River Delta 3. Growing a Delta

Hanoi is connected to the port city of Hai Phong and other smaller cities via water and land. In recent years, Hanoi and the delta grew and ate away open spaces and lakes with little consideration. By rethinking the infrastructure network and combining it with a green structure, guiding principles may be derived.

[ ISSUE ]
Could it be possible to propose a structured method to prevent the unbalanced growth and could reforestation and the reinforcement of various patterns of vegetation structure the growth of a city?
1. The infrastructure has guided growth of industry, but vegetation can have a strong character, directing and guiding urbanization
2. Combining with water networks or infrastructures to make up for spatial organizational principles and also prevents informal development from polluting the landscape.
3. The forested areas can be extended to become a linear structuring principle, a protective infrastructure, and help as a zone of protection between industry, housing and agriculture. It can filter the winds that carry industrial pollution.
4. The connection between forest, mountains, and main river systems.

Visions for the Red River Delta 4. Space for the River

There are two main river systems in the Red River Delta: the Thai Binh and the Red river systems. To discharge the flood as fast as possible, dredging and creating more flows are needed, however, French had blocked the natural flood.

[ ISSUE 1 ]
Can these rivers be re-connected to return their original functions and let them be the natural rivers again?
1. The process is ‘cut and fill’. Some of current settlements in the retention area will be removed while in some area, land could be taken from retention zone for new urban development, depends on the locations and importance of residential area.
2. A dike system can be built surround to protect settlements in flooding area.

[ ISSUE 2 ]
Due to the climate change, the sea level will increase in the future and threaten the delta. The new water level will change the landscape and people’s life greatly.
1. A preserve area along the coast of the delta will be drawn to guide urban developments keep away from the threatened area.
2. Try to integrate the infrastructure investments, the existed settlements, and the industrial developments with the sea level increasing condition.

Visions for the Red River Delta 5. Strategic Projects

Visions for the Red River Delta 6. Conclusion

At regional scale, three visions are proposed: VISION 1: X-PORT CITY, VISION 2: GROWING THE DELTA, and VISION 3: SPACE FOR THE RIVER.

Each of them individually focuses one major spatial element in the delta:INFRASTRUCTURE, FOREST (GREEN SPACE), and WATER (BLUE SPACE). In vision 1, the studio tries to use INFRASTRUCTURE to control the development of industry and also decrease the pressure surrounding the UNESCO world heritage site Ha Long Bay. On the other hand, we propose vision 2 and vision 3 to try to guide the developments of new urban areas and settlements.

We expect the development and growth in the delta would be well organized and guided after we combined these visions.

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 0. Introduction

Explanation of methodology
Four groups worked on four visions. Comparing these visions, we can sometimes see contradictions, sometimes overlap, sometimes reinforcement. The mid review presentation puts the 4 visions next to one another.

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 1. Base Map

Infrastucture Water Systems

What is the current situation of the greater Hanoi region? What are the problems?
1. Infrastructure and industry. Hanoi has historically been connected to surrounding settlements through a system of rivers and roads. This network has changed towards a land based network, starting with the making of bridges over the river, and followed by different impositions during colonization, war, communism and Doi moi Era.

2. Forests ( in the mountains), agriculture (almost monoculture - rice fields) and recreation (national parks and golf courses). The policies of reforestation currently affect the less fertile lands uphill and, at the same time, lead to the collapse of collective agricultural systems.

3. Water household. The Red River has flooding problems. Once connected to the Red River hydraulic system, many secondary rivers have become cut off by dams and gates, reducing their use to solely rainfall drainage. They are ‘dead’ rivers, because the rhythm of rising and receding of the water has disappeared, and due to the elevated pollution levels. Their dams and gates controlling malfunction (they are not being opened during floods).

4. Disappearance of lakes in the city of Hanoi. The city’s remaining lakes are used for different purposes. There are the old, cultural lakes in the city, as well as waste water treatment lakes and lakes as a backbone for residential areas constructed on the edge of urbanization. Lakes outside of the city have recreational purposes (golf courses on the shores).

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 2. City of Ports

1. The existing infrastructure should be used more efficiently. This can be done by upgrading and completing rail systems and adding transportation by water functioning as bypasses from one system to the other.

2. Adding new, large infrastructural projects: Making a T bone road system around the city, connecting the Ho Chi Minh to the motorways that link Hanoi with China. Instead of making the city more congested, new projected industry will link to the road system that widely goes around the city. It also connects in this way to the project airport and existing areas of industrial activity.

3. In the places where different infrastructural elements meet, interesting areas of industrial development come into existence. There is such a node, for example, where road, railroad and river come together near the projected airport. What will be the impact on the Red River and the urbanization of Hanoi City? Will there be improved accessibility to local markets, more connectivity? Will parts of Red River become more accessible, to inhabitants as well as to tourists?

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 3. Growing a Structure

1. Landscape ecology explains principles of separating green from urbanization (for example in the theories of Richard Forman) – lines, patches, fields- form a mosaic of green. Between different patches (of urban and green tissue for example) exist edge conditions; patches have both positive and negative influences on another.

2. How can ecology and urbanization be combined? Could afforestation and the reinforcement of various patterns of vegetation structure the growth of a Hanoi?

3. Different principles can be implemented, such as growing forests, differentiating agriculture, creating wetlands and swampland vegetation around rivers(ladder structure), adding patches to ecological connection, adding green space to urban tissue.

4. What is the purpose of this vision? – Some benefits that can be mentioned are strong green connecting structure (ecology),. Differentiation, protection against pollutants from industry, prevention of urbanization around infrastructure. Furthermore, qualitative green spaces can be implemented in the existing city, including wetlands (for waste water treatment), a market garden, recreation.

5. Compared to the Delta scale, this proposal is about improvement of the city, preventing urbanization in one place and offering the right conditions for urbanization in another place (south of the city, between the mountains and Con River).

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 4. Space for the River

1. Main assumption; let the river be the natural river. Can the rivers be restored to their natural character?

2. Reconnection with the Red River hydrology will allow for dilution of waste water and flood control of the Hanoi region.

3. Demolition of Ba Xuan and Phung Dam in the Day River, and Lien Mac Gate in Nhue River, would connect the rivers to Red River and make their former flood plains, defined by dikes and natural height differences and wetlands again under rule of the seasons.

4. Day River: The floodplains will be landscaped. Cut and fill actions, moving soil from one place to another, will occur within the flood area. This will change the floodplains. Protection of certain towns and villages. Land taken from the floodplains can become new development areas. The dike will become more than a line. Rather, it will be a landscaped element, sometimes broad, sometimes narrow.

5. Nhue River: The design will focus on restoring some of the landscape qualities to the city. Breaking away some urbanization, and reinforcing existing open areas around the river will provide the city with agriculture, recreation and nature.

6. Red River: the dike system around Hanoi is largely in place but can be altered at certain locations where no urbanization is occurring. Here, the dike will also be made into a broad, stepped levee. It will consist of different terraces, suitable for different kinds of plants and agriculture.

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 5. City of Lakes

1. In order to guide future development of the city, a bold gesture of creating new water bodies will be undertaken. This happens on a large scale, outside of the city.

2. The new lakes have a multitude of uses. Location, size and shape of the lakes relate to their functioning. The most important functions are recreation, storm water drainage, recharging of the aquifers and water retention during flooding. The largest lakes are found near the confluence of the Lo, Da and Red Rivers, and near the confluence of Day and Con Rivers.

3. The lakes have strong structuring capacity (it’s hard to build in them), they can increase land value and give soil for other landfills. This can be used for dikes or for urban development projects. Therefore urbanization will occur in indicated places. The areas directly south and west of the city are suitable for further urbanization. Also to the far west, between Con River and the mountains, urbanization around existing lakes can take place.

4. The water bodies can be combined with infrastructure water purification, along infrastructure, in a wetland or watershed. Also they work together with forest and vegetation systems.

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 6. Strategic Projects

Visions for the Greater Hanoi 7. Conclusion

Some main questions and comments based on the visions:
1. The different visions can be made richer by more overlapping. Where are strong points of combination? An example of this approach is the combination of water and green networks, that together counterbalance major infrastructure, to filter the air and water from pollution and set the condition for urbanization through adaptation of the landscape.

2. Which current spatial patterns can be the starting point, which have a potential to undergo a metamorphosis?

3. How can introduced structures anticipate and accommodate urban development without collapsing or vanishing? Think about ‘soft’ structures like lakes, forests and wetlands that have disappeared from the city. Would they rather be able to structure? Or are they contradicting each other when combined radically?

4. Is it possible to imagine a future for the city, in which design breaks down the system of rings and radials and integrates the existing city in a grid like network, delineated in the west by the Ho Chi Minh highway and in the east by highway no. 1?

5. Can this network also be combined with an equal, parallel network of mountains, rivers, wetlands and forests? Can nature, rather than being wild and inaccessible, have a ‘gardeners logic,’ a green element that is controlled by man and brings quality to the city? Is the separation between nature and man, like a landscape ecologist would prefer, to black and white?

6. Or could there be large, natural element comparable to the mountains in Rio de Janeiro or Cape Town that gives character and definition to the city? Could that be the mountains, the rivers, or is it shaped by a new figure of green space?

THREE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

TECHNICAL:

Technical-RIVERS (Ling)
1. How can we reconcile the need to create networks of public open space along the Red River (to serve social and ecological needs within the growing city) with an affordable approache to hydrologic engineering and water management.

2. How can the drainage and water purification system of the dyked area offer a dynamic landscape both attractive and technical performant, during both floods and dry seasons?

3. How can we deal with the current challenges of climate change to prevent the bank erosion and river bed sedimentation, through a productive and sustainable maintenance method.

Technical-LAKES (Steven)

1. Integration of lakes into public space is the single strategy presently deployed to protect Hanoi's lakes against encroachment; what other strategies could be adopted to safeguard them against other threats posed by urban development pressures?

2. What unique aspects of each lake (character, location, ecological condition, etc) could be optimised in a bid to guide integrated development around the lakes?

3. Installation of Treatment Plants seems to be the only approach considered to managing the city's water quality; what alternatives are available? Can Hanoi's lakes play a biological role? Do they have the capacity?

Techonical-CANAL & SMALL RIVERS

From Dangachew:
1. [ Treatment ]
Is there any way by which we can improve the edge conditions of these canals making them more accessible thereby reintegrating them to the city? Is there any way by which we can reverse the polluted state of these canals?

2. [ Equipment ]
Are there more efficient techniques to deal with the flooding problems than the water level regulation systems being employed now ? Are there alternative techniques that are more sustainable and less energy consuming, such as replacing the "hard" or engineered solutions by "soft" or more flexible solutions ?

3. [ Management ]
Could we propose new ways of managing the canal systems, in a way that involves the people that reside alongside them? Can we raise their awareness about environmental issues and make them key role players in the sustainable upkeep of these canals systems?

From Marijn:
1. How can To Lich River be treated as to improve the relationship with its surroundings? Can there exist different relationships with urban and agricultural areas? Can parts of the river bed be restored to bring a new quality to the urban environment?

2. There are plans of reconnecting To Lich River to Red River (however in a way that is different from the historical course). What are the effects of a renewed connection of the small rivers and canals to the Red River?

3. Day River seems far away from the city, while Nhue River seems to be the next river to be swallowed. What should be the first steps to define the quality and character of Day River, imagining its gradual transformation? What can be learned from To Lich and Nhue River?

NATURE:

Nature-RIVER (Pamel + David)
1. How can we control the nature along the Red river and create new 'environments' for future generations?

2. What type of activities/uses can we introduce along the Red river that can naturally cope with both backward and forward fluctuations of the river?

3. How best can we deal with change in lifestyles of the people to prevent destruction of nature along the Red river?

Nature -LAKE (Ayasha)
1. Hanoi is occasionally called ‘city of lakes’. There are still some lakes that are the pride of city and largely accepted by inhabitants here. What approaches can be taken to maintain their existence?

2. Most of the lakes in inner urban are badly disturbed due to pollution, density, encroachment and so on. What measures are essential to reestablish their natural balance?

3. More than 100 lakes in the inner city now reduce to 28. The now developments are going on by encroaching and filling up these natural lakes which are used to be the retention area for water for city. In such practices what lessens Hanoi can have from regular water disaster?

Nature - CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Emil)
1. What constitutes an appropriate response to flooding?

2. Can we guide urban development to strategically retain valuable natural resources?

3. Is introducing new technology and engineering enough to changing people's perception of existing canals?

CULTURE:

Culture-RIVER (Bart)
A bridge too far?Hanoi seems to have turned its back towards the Red River: has it forgotten about the Red River or does it not care about her anymore?

1. Within the context of a growing economy the Red River should be able to offer different old and new opportunities for the city. “How can the Red River connect Hanoi again to the region and the world?” is a question that refers to the challenge for the city to restore its relation with the Red River in terms not only of trade and traffic, but also spiritually. Maybe this is also a way to critically refer to the factor of the speed with which the city is developing and expanding.

2. The Bridge is a gate to the River and the City: it is an entrance to the city across the river and an opening to the river from the city. In terms of water problems the image of Hanoi is not always in balance with that of its beautiful Red River though. How can the Red river strengthen the image of the city again?

3. Finally the vast agricultural field in the Red River delta is feeding Hanoi and its region. This component forms a structural element in the economy of the city but on the smaller micro-scale level. The agricultural land and the people depending on it are under pressure though, due to large scale urban projects. How can the role of agriculture remain an important strength of the economy of the city?

Culture-LAKE (Xiaoxiao)
1. Could the relashionship of lakes and culture be reprogrammed?It is a clear observation in the mapping of cultural lakes that there is a possiblitilty to reprogramme the lake area to improve the monocultural situation of some lakes and better fit with their inhabitance.

2. Could new lakes be digged?We dig new lakes in order to bring people’s life back to the water, especially bring those in the overexpaned area to the inner lakes which have an intimate relashionship with our daily life. Perhaps new cultures will emerge as well as the return of traditinal cultures.

3. Is it able to connect all the lakes sysmatically instead of leave them basins?The locations of new lakes are mostly along the rivers, which followed the natual water shed in order to compose them into a water system.

Culture- CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Wei)
1. What are the changes of traditional cultural activities to accordingly display the change of relationship of the people with water?

2. Is it inevitable that the culture of people living and surviving with the canal will be ruined by the urbanization? If not, what can be done?

3. What kinds of new approach can be applied to revitalize the connection or create new connection between the water and people's life?

BUILT:

Built-RIVER (Bardia)
1. How to make out dike areas more safe places against flood, considering amountof people living there by new typology of the houses and new regulations for construction?

2. How to integrate river sides more with the city and providing more public places by proposing new methodology for designing and planning based on reserving green fields?

3. what are the top-down and bottom-up forces and advantages for providing corporative relationship between authorities and people?

Built-LAKE (Sherin + Trung)
1. What are the strategies of controlling the flood from the lakes in Hanoi? Are they really useful for controlling water specially in flooded months or may they need more modifications and developments? And what are the effects on the surrounding built environment?

2. What are the regulations of new development projects around the lakes? And these regulations and laws are followed or ignored from these projects in reality. Or after few years we will not find any green space arround the lakes.

3. It seems that lakes are being filled up rapidly to creat land for new urban development. How could we recognize hanoi without lakes any more? And how could we prevent these random developments?Lakes give life to the built environment and in same time the built environment try rapidly to kill the lakes. Is it justice????

Built-CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Patrick)
1. If the rivers would regain their natural flow by giving them more space, what characteristics and qualities the adjacent space could consist of in terms of landscape and urbanization? Can this changing attitude carry a new set of meaning for the region?

2. Can canals and small river-infrastructure be a backbone for qualitative urban development and water control?

3. Can/should urban and rural development coexist alongside the canals and small rivers?

Built+Small Rivers/Canals

1. If the rivers would regain their natural flow by giving them more space, what characteristics and qualities the adjacent space could consist of in terms of landscape and urbanization? Can this changing attitude carry a new set of meaning for the region?

2. Can canals and small river-infrastructure be a backbone for qualitative urban development and water control?

3. Can/should urban and rural development coexist alongside the canals and small rivers?

Small Rivers/Canals + Culture

1.What are the changes of traditional cultural activities to accordingly display the change of relationship of the people with water?
2.Is it inevitable that the culture of people living and surviving with the canal will be ruined by the urbanization? If not, what can be done?
3.What kinds of new approach can be applied to revitalize the connection or create new connection between the water and people's life?

River - Built + Techniques

Built:

1. How to make out dike areas more safe places against flood, considering amountof people living there by new typology of the houses and new regulations for construction?

2. How to integrate river sides more with the city and providing more public places by proposing new methodology for designing and planning based on reserving green fields?

3. what are the top-down and bottom-up forces and advantages for providing corporative relationship between authorities and people?


Techniques:

1. How can we reconcile between the need to create networks of public open space along the Red River to serve social and ecological needs within the growing city and affordable approaches to engineer and water management.

2. How drainage and water purification system of the dyke area be made sure of dynamic during floods and dry seasons and offer attractive techniques landscape?

3. How can we deal with the current challenges of climate and social change to prevent the bank erosion and river bed sedimentation in the productive and sustainable maintenance.

River + Culture

A bridge too far?

Hanoi seems to have turned its back towards the Red River: has it forgotten about the Red River or does it not care about her anymore?

1. Within the context of a growing economy the Red River should be able to offer different old and new opportunities for the city. “How can the Red River connect Hanoi again to the region and the world?” is a question that refers to the challenge for the city to restore its relation with the Red River in terms not only of trade and traffic, but also spiritually. Maybe this is also a way to critically refer to the factor of the speed with which the city is developing and expanding.

2. The Bridge is a gate to the River and the City: it is an entrance to the city across the river and an opening to the river from the city. In terms of water problems the image of Hanoi is not always in balance with that of its beautiful Red River though. How can the Red river strengthen the image of the city again?

3. Finally the vast agricultural field in the Red River delta is feeding Hanoi and its region. This component forms a structural element in the economy of the city but on the smaller micro-scale level. The agricultural land and the people depending on it are under pressure though, due to large scale urban projects. How can the role of agriculture remain an important strength of the economy of the city?

River-Nature

1. How best can we control the nature along the Red river and create new 'environments' for future generations?

2. What type of activities/uses can we introduce along the Red river that can naturally cope up with both backward and foward fluctuations of the river?

3. How best can we deal with change in lifestyles of the people to prevent destruction of nature along the Red river?

Lakes- Built Composit Panels

1. What are the strategies of controlling the flood from the lakes in Hanoi? Are they really useful for controlling water specially in flooded months or may they need more modifications and developments? And what are the effects on the surrounding built environment?

2. What are the regulations of new development projects around the lakes? And these regulations and laws are followed or ignored from these projects in reality. Or after few years we will not find any green space arround the lakes.

3. It seems that lakes are being filled up rapidly to creat land for new urban development. How could we recognize hanoi without lakes any more? And how could we prevent these random developments?

Lakes give life to the built environment and in same time the built environment try rapidly to kill the lakes. Is it justice????

Lakes-Culture

1. Could the relashionship of lakes and culture be reprogrammed?
It is a clear observation in the mapping of cultural lakes that there is a possiblitilty to reprogramme the lake area to improve the monocultural situation of some lakes and better fit with their inhabitance.

2. Could new lakes be digged?
We dig new lakes in order to bring people’s life back to the water, especially bring those in the overexpaned area to the inner lakes which have an intimate relashionship with our daily life. Perhaps new cultures will emerge as well as the return of traditinal cultures.

3. Is it able to connect all the lakes sysmatically instead of leave them basins?
The locations of new lakes are mostly along the rivers, which followed the natual water shed in order to compose them into a water system.

Nature-Canal

1. What constitutes an appropriate response to flooding?

2. Can we guide urban development to strategically retain valuable natural resources?

3. Is introducing new technology and engineering enough to changing people's perception of existing canals?

Lakes_Techniques: Composite Panel

1. Integration of lakes into public space is the single strategy presently deployed to protect Hanoi's lakes against encroachment; what other strategies could be adopted to safeguard them against other threats posed by urban development pressures?

2. What unique aspects of each lake (character, location, ecological condition, etc) could be optimised in a bid to guide integrated development around the lakes?

3. Installation of Treatment Plants seems to be the only approach considered to managing the city's water quality; what alternatives are available? Can Hanoi's lakes play a biological role? Do they have the capacity?

Nature + Lakes

1. Hanoi is occasionally called as ‘city of lakes’. There are still some lakes that are the pride of city and largely accepted by inhabitants here. What approaches can be taken to maintain their existence?

2. Most of the lakes in inner urban are badly disturbed due to pollution, density, encroachment and so on. What measures are essential to reestablish their natural balance?

3. More than 100 lakes in the inner city now reduce to 28. The now developments are going on by encroaching and filling up these natural lakes which are used to be the retention area for water for city. In such practices what lessens Hanoi can have from regular water disaster?

Canals and small rivers-TECHNIQUES

From Dagnachew:

1. [ Treatment ]

Is there any way by which we can improve the edge conditions of these canals making them more accessible thereby reintegrating them to the city? is there any way by which we can reverse the polluted state of these canals?

2. [ Equipment ]

are there more efficient techniques to deal with the flooding problems than the water level regulation systems being employed now ? are ther alternative techniques that are more susatinable and less energy consuming ? such as replacing the "hard" or engineered solutions by "soft" or more flexible solutions ?

3. [ Management ]

Could we propose new ways of managing the canal systems, in such a way that it involves the people that reside alongside them? Is there a way by which we can raise their awareness about environmental issues and make them key role players in the sustainable upkeep of these canals systems?

From Marijn:

1. How can To Lich River be treated as to improve the relationship with its surroundings? Can there exist different relationships with urban and agricultural areas?

2. Can parts of the river bed be restored to bring a new quality to the urban environment?There are plans of reconnecting To Lich River to Red River (however in a way that is different from the historical course). What are the effects of a renewed connection of the small rivers and canals to the Red River?

3. Day River seems far away from the city, while Nhue River seems to be the next river to be swallowed. What should be the first steps to define the quality and character of Day River, imagining its gradual transformation? What can be learned from To Lich and Nhue River?

THREE BLIND QUESTIONS

TECHNICAL:
Technical-RIVER (Ling)
1. As the dyke area along the Red River is blocked by concrete dyke, is there any waterfront public place in the city along the river related to the water?
2. The wastewater in the dyke area is directly discharged into the river, and many overflow from open sewage basins locate along the river, do you have new solutions for wastewater purification and drainage systems in the dyke area?
3. How many kinds of traditional techniques do you have for the river bank defense?

Technical-LAKE (Steven)
1. Forces: What are the fundamental forces (natural/man-made) associated with the land/water interface in Hanoi?
2. Utility: What critical use is associated with the inner lakes of Hanoi?
3. Approach: What methods are applied (past and present) to manage this resource interface?

Technical-CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Dangachew)
1. Most of the canals and small rivers of Hanoi are used for the sole purpouse sewage disposal and thus are highly polluted. Is there any alternative techique we can propose to improve this condition inorder to make them less hazardeous?
2. Almost all of these small rivers pass through the very core of the city, and have the potential of becoming good public spaces. Is there any way by which we can improve the edge conditions of these canals making them more accessible thereby reintegrating them to the city?
3. Could we propose state-of-the-art and more efficient techniques to deal with the flooding problems and reinforce the existing water level regulation systems or better yet replace them?

Technical-CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Marijn)
1. How do management and techniques of canals and rivers change when they are influenced by urbanization? Do they follow or anticipate? What is the impact of building close to the borders of the canal or river?
2. Can the area around a canal be managed in such a way, that different circumstances exist along its course? For example, are there more wet or more dry areas, to allow respectively for agriculture and building?
3. How did the canal system develop over the years? Did the technique, the borders or the course of the rivers change significantly?


NATURE:
Nature-RIVER (David)
1. Do floods only bring problems? What are the possible advantages floods can bring to the city and its surrounding area?
2. What are the main kinds and sources of the pollutions in the Red River? How the city and the people who live along the river face and solve the pollution problems?
3. What’s the land use condition of the sandbanks on the Red River today? What are the use and urban functions which can benefit to the nature environment of the city the sandbanks on the river can provide?

Nature-RIVER (Pamela)
1. What is the historic trend of the changing course of the Red river over the past years? (Provision of Maps/sketches showing the shift of the ground over time will be appreciated)
2. What are main types of manmade control processes that have been implemented along the Red river over the past years?
3. What measures/initiatives have been taken by Hanoi City Authority, Community, Academic Institutions and/or other stakeholders to conserve the natural environment along the Red river over the time?

Nature -LAKE (Ayasha)
1. With the urbanization process Hanoi destroying and loosing its strong relation with water and causing huge water related disaster every year. So, why Hanoi is not searching and concentrating herself to re-establish the natural balance first then the development to survive?
2. Presently Hanoi is going on with lot of master plans and development projects by destroying natural water bodies and filling low lands that could worsen the city’s water problem. Did these practicing master plans and urban developments prove themselves to solve the existing water problems in terms of city scale?
3. Hanoi has hundreds of lakes and reservoirs within the city. Most of these are being concretized and using for commercial purpose. These practice destroying the living environment for other living organism also. Is not it essential to treat these water bodies naturally to have the ecological balance and also soft touch to nature for city people?

Nature - CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Emil)
1. Why is it so polluted?
2. Why are certain types of vegetation & agriculture located along it?
3. Why have the banks been treated in this manner?


CULTURE:
Culture-RIVER (Bart)
1. How does the Red River relate to the economy and the structure of the city, at different scale levels?
2. How can the Red River be qualified as a cultural landscape? What are possibilities to 'renovate'/'renew' this landscape?
3. What economical potentials and threats can be identified for the Red River in relation to the city?

Culture-LAKE (Xiaoxiao)
1. If Hanoi is regarded the “city of lakes and rivers”, just like the Red River is called the “Mother River”, is there any spiritual meaning of lakes in Hanoi?
2. What roles in term of culture do lakes play in the daily life of Hanoiese?
3. Since Vietnam is a country with a long history of being ruled or colonized by other countries, in what form do different cultures, such as Chinese, French and Modern cultures, have an impact on the inhabitants of lakes?

Culture- CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Wei)


BUILT:
Built-RIVER (Bardia)
1. How to make out dike areas more safe places against flood, considering amount of people living there?
2. How to integrate river sides more with the city and providing more public places?
3. How provide more natural and open lands in this area?

Built-LAKE (Sherin)
1. What are the flood control strategies of the lakes in Hanoi? Are they really useful for controlling water specially in flooded months? or may they need more modifications?
2. What are the new development projects regulations in areas around the lakes? And are they happened or ignored in reality?
3. What is the main effect of lakes on the surrounding built environment? And how they give life to the surroundings?

Built-LAKE (Trung)

Built-CANAL & SMALL RIVERS (Patrick)
1. What can be a (new) future meaning/use for canals/small rivers?
2. Can canal-infrastructure be a backbone for urban development and water control?
3. What kind of development is feasible along the canals/small rivers?

WELCOME

Welcome to our question(b)log. This online tool is part of the urban design studio titled "Water Urbanism in Hanoi: Red River + Lakes" taught by Kelly Shannon, Ward Verbakel and benoit Legrand for the post graduate programs MaHS, MaUSP and EMU of the KULeuven. Students will be developing research and design questions throughout the semester and post them online, to allow our international collaborators to comment, redefine and question our studio projects.