Preserving the soul of the ancient town of Hoi An

With the characteristics of being living relics, the place where people have lived and made a living for generations, ancient houses are considered the "soul" of the World Heritage Hoi An Ancient Town. However, the ancient town of Hoi An is facing the risk of losing its soul and true value, when many owners sell their ancient houses.

Only 30% of Hoi An ancient houses belong to Hoi An people. The ancient house of Mrs. Tran Thi Minh Thuy on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street belongs to the old quarter - the core area of ​​the World Heritage Site of Hoi An Ancient Town ( Quang Nam Province). Before the Covid-19 pandemic, although the house was offered for more than 40 billion VND, her family refused to sell it because they had been attached to this place for many generations and "left it as a church". However, there are not many cases like Mrs. Thuy's family. Particularly on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, most of the ancient houses have been transferred a long time ago and are only rented out for business. "There are only two houses left here. It's sad when all the neighbors move away", Mrs. Thuy shared.

A house on Tran Phu Street, Hoi An Ancient Town, is for sale for 34 billion VND. Source: batdongsan.com.vn

Hoi An ancient town has more than 1,000 ancient architectural works close together, forming a unique architectural complex, harmonious from the landscape, urban space to each individual construction. Of these, only about 10% are under State management (nearly 100 houses); 20% are collectively owned, including clan churches, assembly halls, and family memorial houses; the remaining 70% are privately owned. Notably, previously, most of the privately owned ancient houses belonged to Hoi An people, but now only 30% of them belong to Hoi An people, 30% of the owners are from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang... 40% belong to Hoi An people but are rented out to people from other places. Walking around Hoi An ancient town, it is not difficult to see signs advertising houses for sale, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, when business is difficult and many streets are deserted. On real estate websites, many houses in Hoi An ancient town are being sold for prices ranging from 15 to 60 billion VND. Reporting to the Survey Team of the Committee for Culture and Education in a recent meeting, Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee Nguyen Van Son said that changing the ownership of houses in the ancient town "is a great concern for Hoi An", "risking the loss of the soul of the ancient town". Mr. Nguyen Van Son explained: Hoi An's ancient houses, which used to have three functions: worship, residence and trading, now only have the function of trading, opening from 8 to 9 am and closing from 9 to 10 pm. Moreover, people from other places come to buy houses in Hoi An ancient town mainly for business purposes, so they find ways to repair and renovate... "For Hoi An people, they are highly aware of the responsibility to preserve the houses left by their ancestors, but transferring ownership to others, that responsibility is reduced, and there is even a conflict between heritage conservation and economic development, changing the architecture of the house", said Mr. Nguyen Van Son. There are clearer policies for heritage owners . It is not only now that there is a phenomenon of transferring ownership of houses in Hoi An ancient town. Director of Hoi An Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation Center Pham Phu Ngoc said that houses in the ancient town are like normal goods, bought, sold, transferred, there are no regulations prohibiting or not allowing them. According to statistics, there are years when 40 - 50 ancient houses are bought, sold, transferred, especially houses owned by clans.

In 1999, Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site according to two criteria: being an outstanding physical manifestation of the combination of cultures through the ages in an international trading port; being a typical example of a perfectly preserved traditional Asian port.

The change of ownership can change the function, structure, and space of ancient houses, affecting the overall preservation of the ancient town. Hoi An city leaders are very aware of this, but everywhere they look, it is difficult. "We really want to buy back ancient houses. Many houses have special value, it is a pity to sell them, but there is no mechanism to buy them back, nor are there resources," said Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee Nguyen Van Son. Hoi An is researching and developing a project to preserve and promote the value of the world heritage of Hoi An ancient town, including solutions to bring Hoi An people back to the ancient town, such as creating a heritage conservation fund to buy back ancient houses and rent them to people, limiting the conversion of ancient houses into places to make money, distorting the heritage. In the long term, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Son, there needs to be a clearer policy for heritage owners. “In the old town, people have had to make sacrifices, not being able to renovate into high-rise buildings, not being able to repair to meet the needs of modern life, but taxes are still paid in full, even higher... Treating old houses like normal houses, people will sell them all”. Emphasizing that transferring ownership of ancient houses in Hoi An is “very dangerous” because it will lose the soul and true value of this world heritage, Standing Member of the Committee for Culture andEducation Bui Hoai Son said that when amending the Law on Cultural Heritage, or related policies such as taxes, fees, land... “it is necessary to study and have appropriate mechanisms so that the local community is truly the owner of the heritage”.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/giu-hon-cho-do-thi-co-hoi-an-post336728.html