artefacts, such as the city of Genoa, is ready to assist Hanoi to
restore and improve its Old Quarter.
Speaking at
a seminar on improving the role and efficiency of the local officials
who are responsible for managing Hanoi’s Old Quarter on September 15,
Cesare Bieller, head of the Political and Cultural Section at the
Italian Embassy in Hanoi, stressed that preserving the Old Quarter must
be a shared responsibility that includes the whole community and needs
to be carried out to improve living standards and economic efficiency.
According to leading architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem,
former Director of Hanoi’s Department of Architectural Planning, the Old
Quarter is extremely valuable to the local people, commerce, culture
and the city’s architecture.
Therefore, any
preservation must conform to the Government’s regulations and be
developed and managed in cooperation with local officials and the
public, he said.
Hanoi ’s old houses and
buildings reflect the city’s different architectural styles during each
period of its history so they need to be restored and preserved, he
added.
According to the Management Board for
Hanoi’s Old Quarter, which covers nearly 100ha and includes almost
1,000 old houses, it is now seriously run down due to the increasing
number of residents living in the area.
At
present, Hanoi is introducing measures to preserve and promote its
cultural value, as well as attempting to reduce the population to
minimise the negative impacts on the Old Quarter./.
