| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, April 8, 2016 | 11:00AM - 1:00PM | Seminar Room 108N, Munk School of Global Affairs 1 Devonshire Place M5S 3K7 |
Contemporary Asian Studies students participated in an International Course Module (ICM) to Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, Vietnam, during Reading Week 2016. Led by Professor Hy Van Luong, the trip covered the theme of urban infrastructures, and students were divided into smaller groups and conducted individual research projects in collaboration with local Vietnamese university students.
This presentation will begin with an overview of the trip, and continue with individual and group presentations of the students’ research findings, followed by a Q&A session, moderated by CAS400 instructor and PhD candidate Emily Hertzman.
Development of Urban Infrastructure and Its Sustainability in Contemporary Vietnam: HCMC and Da Nang
Susan Cui
Since a decade after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Vietnam as a country founded on Communist regime has went through exceptional economic growth after its economic reform in the 1980s, with Ho Chi Minh City at the forefront of the new economic reform agenda. The city of Da Nang on the other hand has defied a number of central orders, and has successfully introduced its own version of urban economic reform, exemplifying itself as the new urban developmental model in Vietnam standing beside the robust urban growth of the Ho Chi Minh City. This research aims to assess the urban developmental contrast between the Ho Chi Minh City and the city of Da Nang in terms of their respective levels urban infrastructural development and their respective infrastructural spatial arrangement. This research aims to further assess the respective infrastructural sustainability of each city in accordance with each of their respective future visions, and produce general policy recommendations for other urbanizing cities in Vietnam looking to spur a sustainable urban spatial development.
Youth Cultures in Vietnam
Ongio Tsui and Alex McKeen
Scholars often refer to Vietnam as an example of a politically resilient regime; since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has enjoyed steady control over its constituents. Historically, culture has been wielded by the CPV as one way of exerting ideological control over the Vietnamese people. The aftermath of Đổi Mới reforms, however, have made this more difficult to do. Our research focuses on the social category of youth, which embodies the increasing openness to global culture. We interviewed middle-class youth from the urban areas of Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, and found that their cultural practices and interests were divergent from those of the older Vietnamese generations. Young people in these areas seem to show appreciation for global popular trends, including K-pop, US/UK pop, and American music. Their social activities also reflect a more open, experimental ethos when it comes to discourse about sex and drugs. Our findings suggest that the younger generation in Vietnam recognizes themselves as categorically distinct from older generations, especially with respect to cultural engagement and connectivity to the global popular community.
An Examination of Migratory Movements, Housing, and Resettlement Models in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang
Daniel Chan Park, Sarah Tan, and Kelly Xin Zhang
Since the Communist Party of Vietnam’s push for economic reforms (“Doi Moi”) in 1986, both Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang have experienced a surge in their urban population. This has put pressure on their city governments to reformulate their urban planning to properly accommodate for the population spike. As such, our research will focus on three aspects of urban planning: resettlement complexes, housing, and the impact of migration.
Urban Transportation Systems and Infrastructure of Vietnam
Timothy Tse and Yvonne Xie
Out of many components of urban transportation, our researches placed significant emphasis on the experience of using the system in various dimensions and perspectives. In our researches, we investigated that the lack of ridership and resources invested into the transportation system has a cyclical effect to each other, explaining the heavy reliance of personal automobile in the city of Ho Chi Minh and Danang. Until recently, the governments of Ho Chi Minh and Danang has no long term transportation planning, which explained the emergence of different urban issues, such as emission related health concerns, as well as immobility due to traffic jams. The government attempted to resolve the issues through acceleration of infrastructure developments in both cities. Our presentation and papers however, will place a greater emphasis in the feeling and experience of the various transportation modes available in the city of Ho Chi Minh and Da Nang, and to formulate suggestions to Da Nang, which is yet to be fully developed.
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