Pham Vu Hoang Linh

Research

Subject

The spatial culture of ‘hẻm’ in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A spatial- morphological analysis of urban interiority

First and second supervisors

Abstract

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, numerous studies have presented alleyways in various Asian countries as relics of the urban past due to their deep-rooted presence in the spatial grid and their vulnerability to vanishing amidst the modernization process. Despite some typological similarities, however, Vietnamese alleyways, or ‘hẻm’, tell a different story. Hẻm are Vietnamese urban phenomenon and home to more than 80% of the population of two major cities: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Even so, the formation and growth of hẻm in the two cities are fundamentally different. The urban grid of Hanoi is originally rooted in traditional village structure. Unlike Hanoi, HCMC underwent a substantial urban transformation during the colonial period with a large-scale demolition of traditional villages. This thesis investigates how HCMC has been transformed from a Western colonial city to a city characterised by an extensive number of hẻm since the national reunification in 1975 and the economic reform in 1986. Far from being an informal urban element suggesting marginal status, do hẻm provide the means for HCMC to establish an indigenous post-colonial identity?

The research proposes a socio-spatial approach to this question, deploying both configurational analysis and ethnographic fieldwork. Hẻm are approached as examples of local cultural continuity characterised by a quality of ‘interiority.’ Spatial analysis uses the theory and methods of space syntax and the associated concept of 'spatial culture' which proposes that space is intrinsic to social processes. A spatial-morphological representation of hẻm at a fine resolution of the urban grid focuses on their role in the urban structure of HCMC, in dialogue with other socio-economic data. This analysis produces case studies for the fieldwork stage, drawing on the techniques of grounded theory. The thesis intends to contribute a spatial cultural approach to the interpretation of urban interiority in Vietnam.

Biography

Linh Phamvu has been a PhD candidate at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, since 2022. Her interest in collective memory and spatial arrangement began during her undergraduate studies in Interior Design and evolved over more than seven years of professional experience. Specialising in hospitality projects across diverse cultural contexts—from developed to underdeveloped countries, spanning Europe to Southeast Asia—her work as an interior designer has enriched and deepened her exploration of 'interiority' as an urban quality. This professional background has been instrumental in shaping her research interests, challenging conventional boundaries and conceptions of interiors through a spatial-socio approach.