Transformation of Built Cultural Heritage in Old Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

Saigon was founded by the army commander Nguyen Huu Canh in the seventeenth century. It became the capital of the French colony of Cochin-China in 1883, part of French Indochinese Union which lasted until 1945, and the capital of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) until 1975. It has diverse cultural characteristics and a unique urban form. It was described as 'the pearl of the Far East' during the 19th and 20th centuries. After the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The economic reform process, Doi Moi, which started in the late 1986s, transformed Vietnam from a highly centralized planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy, and its cities, HCMC included, underwent significant new development. This paper aims to re-understand the nature of old Saigon's establishment and identity to authentically consolidate new findings of the spatial development axis; re-assess the cultural significance of remaining places, which are needed to support the coming Master plan period 2040-2060 of HCMC towards sustainable conservation in a globalization context.