Design of the landscape diversity of commercial streets in the old downtown of Ho Chi Minh City

University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City, 196 Pasteur str., Ward 6, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

^* Corresponding author: ngoc.nguyenthibich@uah.edu.vn

Abstract

Ho Chi Minh City is a city with many cultures, architectural styles, and different lifestyles. This makes Ho Chi Minh City characterized as a diverse city satisfying the different elements: spatial diversity, cultural diversity. According to the Saigon master plan of Coffyn designed in the early 20th century, together with public spaces, the commercial areas of Ho Chi Minh City were also identified as the main points for the city development. Therefore, the commercial streets in its old downtown also showed very obvious diversity. Vietnamese people have adjusted the urban spaces planned by French people in order to match with their lifestyle for more than 100 years. Besides, many old commercial buildings have been demolished and replaced with new buildings, causing the disturbance of life and cultural values of the city, leaving many streets losing their original landscapes and getting the same style. Their uncontrolled diverse development causes the clutter, loss of order, and insecurity. From this above situation, the author has chosen the subject “Design of the landscape diversity of commercial streets in the old downtown of Ho Chi Minh City” in order to find the oriented development for those streets on the basis of maintaining and developing their inherent diverse characteristics.