Hanoi Old Quarter with Its Historic Tube House Transition in the Vietnam Context

The Old Quarter is a place combining vestiges of its history and architecture with the traditional urban fabric to make this area more unique in Vietnam. Historically, the area has been definitely a part of Hanoi city since the tenth century and existed until present. The total area is about 82 ha, which contain many individual assets, buildings, tube-houses, other cultural structures and layers. It also faces phenomenon to concretize the buildings and the built heritage environment. This paper aims to share a different view of the heritage environment of Hanoi Old Quarter (HOQ) and its surrounding blocks. Based on research findings, it shows there are three developmental forms, such as: 4 side-directions, 3 side-direction and a single direction, which made unique typology of the blocks at present. Therefore, understanding the local community’s behavior within the blocks is one fundamental condition for managing future change of HOQ’s built heritage effectively and efficiently in the Vietnam context.