The Invisible Order of Appropriations of Urban Public Space in Vietnam and Taiwan

Te-Sheng Huang (Te-Sheng Huang Architect & Associates)
Le Anh Vu (National University of Civil Engineering)

In Hanoi, a barber hangs a mirror on the fence outside the Den Quan Thanh temple and provides his services on the sidewalk. Next to him other vendors operate small food businesses. In Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, locals conduct various activities in public space including chess-playing, (auto)bike-repairing, sewing, dancing and shoe-polishing. Similar scenes were observed in Taiwan, particularly the appropriation of sidewalks and arcades for selling merchandise and food and for parking autobikes. These appropriations of public space may well look disorderly, even messy,to westerners but behind their physical appearance is another kind of order, a social order, well known to locals. Vendors and autobike-owners, for example, often occupy the edge of sidewalks and only during certain hours. The vendors may take turns using the space over the course of the day. The area occupied by vendors is carefully delimited among themselves and, if it abuts storefronts, they pay the adjacent proprietors. No one intrudes into the territory of another. Also, those adjacent to each other often support each other.

Instead of appreciating these appropriations that make cities vibrant and attract tourists, Vietnamese authorities attempt to create an environment that is regulated, sanitized and visually ordered. In Taiwan, security personnel cruise the sidewalks and plazas that are created through a zoning incentive. With such highly managed approaches, these sites may appear aesthetically but, other being used for walking or temporarily resting, they do not attract people and activities.

This paper, drawing from observations and secondary sources illustrates and analyses the appearance and the social order of appropriations of urban public space in Vietnam and Taiwan. The intent is to persuade urban designers, planners and policy-makers of Asian cities to appreciate the lively character of their cities before implementing new master plans.