Proud to be the Design Capital of the World

(To Quoc) - In 2019, Hanoi became a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). This demonstrates the important position of the capital city. It also presents an opportunity for Hanoi to strongly leverage its resources and potential, promote innovation, realize its strategic vision, and soon become a truly creative city for the country and the region.

Deserving of the title of Creative City

Looking back over the five years since Hanoi joined the UCCN, we can see the tremendous efforts of all levels of government and the aspirations of many organizations and individuals towards nurturing innovation. This forms the basis for the city's confidence in launching its innovative aspirations into the creative journey of a Creative City.

According to Do Dinh Hong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, after 5 years of implementing creative design initiatives within the socio- economic development program, Hanoi has achieved certain results, focusing on two main groups of tasks: promulgating mechanisms, policies, and implementation plans; and organizing specific activities to implement the initiatives and commitments. Many competitions related to creative design have been organized.

The strong imprint of innovation efforts is clearly demonstrated through the "Hanoi Creative Design Festival". In 2023, the successful organization of the Creative Design Festival at the Gia Lam Railway Factory, along with more than 60 side events, attracted over 200,000 residents and tourists.

Following the success of 2023, the "Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2024" has attracted a great deal of attention from residents and tourists. Many iconic landmarks of the capital city have become attractive creative spaces, drawing thousands of visitors every day. The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2024 aims not only to pilot a future creative economy experience for the city, but also to showcase the city's creative potential, contributing to synergy, connection, and attraction of resources, and awakening the creative spirit of generations of Hanoians.

With over 110 main activities and supporting programs organized throughout the festival, the event has been highly appreciated by the public, the creative community, and domestic and international visitors. The festival is likened to a colorful "feast," becoming a place for interaction and connection among creative practitioners, artists, designers, experts, and the community.

After 9 days of organization, the festival welcomed over 300,000 visitors; on weekends alone, the festival received nearly 60,000 people per day. Locals and tourists patiently lined up, eagerly waiting to visit. "The most significant value that the festival brings is the formation of new awareness among people about creativity as well as culture, history, and architecture through experiential activities, interaction with heritage, and participation in community activities," Mr. Do Dinh Hong emphasized.

Preserving visual heritage as a "portrait" of Hanoi.

Hanoi is steadfastly moving step by step towards its goal of becoming a creative hub for the region and the world . To realize this aspiration, in the coming time, the capital city needs to focus on raising awareness and responsibility among all levels, sectors, businesses, and citizens regarding the development of the Creative City brand. The goal is to encourage each citizen to further unleash their creativity in all fields, so that creativity becomes the material and driving force for the capital's development in the coming years…

According to Professor, Doctor, Architect Hoang Dao Kinh, Hanoi needs to strengthen the development of exchange and connection programs with creative cities in the region and internationally; proactively participate in the activities of UCCN members…

Having conducted extensive and long-term research on Hanoi's architectural heritage, as well as possessing considerable practical experience in the preservation and restoration of numerous buildings, Professor, Doctor, and Architect Hoang Dao Kinh believes that the most prominent spiritual and cultural aspect of Hanoi is its street culture, which contains many distinctive and typical features of Hanoi and is currently fading away. The concern is how to recognize and maintain these cultural features amidst the current contrasting development dynamics.

According to Professor, Doctor, and Architect Hoang Dao Kinh, more than 1,000 years ago, King Ly Thai To issued a decree to move the capital, facing many ambitions and concerns. More than 1,000 years later, our generation is determined to build a capital city that is hundreds, even thousands of times larger and more magnificent. Ambitions and concerns have therefore increased many times over. Hanoi, entering its second millennium, needs a vision and practical thinking.

Hanoi has expanded to 3,340 km in width. However, for the old Hanoi to become the central element, its development must be a combination of renovation and modernization. Otherwise, the central element could become an architectural and historical entity with "deficient" characteristics. The influence emanating from that urban core (if) strengthened and enhanced will determine the future of the capital's urban architecture. No other urban structure can replace it. Hanoi today, from a certain perspective, is a "museum" of urban architecture and urban culture. It is characteristic of the modern period, characteristic of the prolonged transition in social development, with differences originating from East Asia and from unique historical circumstances.

Professor, Doctor, and Architect Hoang Dao Kinh believes that, generally speaking, the natural path for Hanoi's development is a combination of preservation and maintenance, renovation and modernization. Only in this way can Hanoi both integrate internationally in development and preserve and accentuate its inherent uniqueness. In the competition among cities, heritage and identity are also powerful factors.

"In the context of rapid development and international integration, my biggest concern right now is how to inherit Hanoi's urban cultural heritage resources? That heritage includes two components: the urban architectural heritage component, which is the quintessential 'portrait' of Hanoi, and the component of traditional urban spiritual culture (streets and neighborhoods) – will it be preserved and developed further?", shared Professor, Doctor, Architect Hoang Dao Kinh.

Hanoi's old architectural heritage is unique and exquisite, yet fragile, and very difficult to preserve and develop further amidst today's rapid growth. This is truly a challenge for cities, not only Hanoi but also other cities with much larger heritage sites than ours…

How can we preserve the visual heritage, the "portrait" of Hanoi, through its quintessential "core" areas like Hoan Kiem and Ba Dinh districts, for example? This "core" area is too small compared to the hundreds of times greater and still growing urban scale and architectural assets of Hanoi today.

"The prominent spiritual culture in Hanoi is the culture of the streets and neighborhoods – not the culture of the capital city like Hue. That is the urban spirit of Hanoi – which can be seen in aspects such as interpersonal behavior, traditional craft culture, trading culture, and even competitive culture… These cultural features contain many unique and typical characteristics of Hanoi. This culture is extremely fragile and has also faded considerably. How can we recognize and maintain these cultural features in the current context of contrasting developments? These are things that anyone who thinks deeply and broadly about Hanoi's development must consider – especially those responsible for making decisions," Professor, Doctor, Architect Hoang Dao Kinh expressed.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/tu-hao-thu-do-thiet-design-cua-the-gioi-20250125134326116.htm