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Hanoi, Vietnam : representing power in and of the nation

Logan, William 2009, Hanoi, Vietnam : representing power in and of the nation, City : analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 87-94.

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Title Hanoi, Vietnam : representing power in and of the nation
Author(s) Logan, William
Journal name City : analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action
Volume number 13
Issue number 1
Start page 87
End page 94
Total pages 7
Publisher Routledge
Place of publication London, England
Publication date 2009-03-01
ISSN 1470-3629
0969-6199
1360-4813
Summary Hanoi, like most capital cities, performs functions at three levels. It is home to its residents and provides local level services for them. But it also has a role as a city for all citizens of the Vietnamese state, performing capital city functions across the entire national territory as well as beyond national borders. Hanoi is especially interesting because of the uneasy way in which it has been forced to share power internally with Ho Chi Minh City in the south—Hanoi maintaining political and cultural sway but its rival becoming stronger in economic and demographic terms. Externally, it has struggled for recognition, having been regarded as capital of a weak political state open to the interventions of the Chinese, French, Americans and the Soviet Union. This paper argues that Hanoi's double vulnerability has made its rulers acutely aware of the need to demonstrate the city's power as a capital city—or at least to give the semblance of power—through urban planning and architectural design, the building of heroic monuments and the naming of city features after key historic events and people. Major events and projects have become an important way in which the Vietnamese government has sought to strengthen Hanoi's place—and hence its own—in the national consciousness. The regime also continues to push on with efforts to make a future Hanoi dominant both within the Vietnamese urban hierarchy and as the country's undisputed international metropolis.
Language eng
Field of Research 210202 Heritage and Cultural Conservation
Socio Economic Objective 950304 Conserving Intangible Cultural Heritage
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
HERDC collection year 2009
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30016563

Document type: Journal Article
Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education
School of History, Heritage and Society
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