Introduction: Urban Research in Action: Context, Aims, Directions

Summary

Vietnam was long absent or weakly represented in development approaches focusing on countries of the South, partly because of difficulties in accessing the field and to some extent due to geopolitical restrictions or doctrinal considerations. Now it is making a striking comeback as an ‘emerging country’ of Southeast Asia.

This general observation is also true of the field of urban studies wherein, up to the 1990's, Francophone scientific literature dealing with contemporary urbanization in Vietnam amounted to only a handful of early studies such as those authored by Lilian Halls-French, Nguyen Duc Nhuan, Langlet-Quach Thanh Tam and Christian Pedelahore (see comprehensive bibliography at the end of the book). On the other hand, subsequent to opening up under the Doi Moi economic reform, a lot of catching up has been done since the 1990s, thanks to studies carried out by doctorate-level academic scholars and leading public research agencies. Some of the latter include specialized research teams from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) [National Centre for Scientific Research] and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) [Institute of Research for Development, formerly ORSTOM], as well as schools of architecture that have had an impact in their own way, particularly through the architectural research network.

This book is published at the initiative of the Institut des Métiers de la Ville (IMV) [Cooperation Centre for Urban Development] and the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Development Management Support Centre (PADDI), under the scientific coordination of a team led by Patrick Gubry and including Franck Castiglioni, Jean-Michel Cusset, Nguyen Thi Thieng and Pham Thuy Huong, is a compendium of studies on this activity starting with the research results compiled between 2001 and 2004 by the Programme de Recherche Urbaine pour le Développement (PRUD) [Urban Research Programme for Development]. This collaborative work that got the ball rolling, with support from the Priority Solidarity Fund (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs), coordinated jointly by the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Équipement et de l'Environnement pour le Développement (ISTED) [Institute of Science and Technology for Infrastructure and Environment for Development] and by the Groupement d'intérêt scientifique pour l'étude de la Mondialisation et du Développement (GEMDEV) [Scientific Interest Group for the Study of Globalization and Development], is a groundbreaking contribution to urban research on Vietnam.