ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
The various guises of the Imperial City Forecourt
Over the course of the day, the forecourt to the
Imperial City within the Citadel is transformed
based on the people present and their application
of use. In the early morning hundreds participate
in morning exercises classes or walking the
perimeter. As the day progresses, visitors arrive
and it functions solely as a meeting location prior to
entering the Imperial City.
determining the elements of local identity that need
to be preserved and what change is acceptable
in a modernised world will always be debated,
but change will enviably occur. And finally, the
understanding of space and how people use it
must be viewed from a local perspective offering
an opportunity for the true cultural experience.
Participation in this study was an enlightening
experience that some of the simplest interventions
can have a healing effect.
REFERENCES
Dovey, K, Woodcock, I & Wood, S 2009, ‘A Test of Character: Regulating
Place-identity in Inner-city Melbourne’, Urban Studies, vol. 42, no. 12, pp.
2295-2615.
Early morning experience classes. Source: Author
Hoogduyn R 2014, ‘Urban Acupuncture: Revitalizing urban areas by
small scale interventions’, Masters Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Hogskola,
Sweden, viewed 16 June. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/
diva2:832526/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Ngo Quang Duc & Phan Thuy Van 2017, ‘The System of Water Surface
of Gardens in Hue Capital’, in M Rofe, Tran Dinh Hieu, Nguyen Ngoc
Tung, Le Ngoc Van Anh (eds.), Hue citadel into the future: Managing
Natural Hazards, Environmental Pollution, Tourism, and Community
Resettlement, Place Smart, Hue, pp. 73 – 80.
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tourists: a case of Hue City, Vietnam’, Journal of Heritage Tourism, vol.
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3X.2013.818677
Daytime tourism visits. Source: Author
However, it is of an evening when visitors have left
the Citadel that the forecourt is an attraction worth
visiting. Spectacular lighting creates a dramatic
theatrical backstage as the forecourt again returns
to a place of recreation with children playing and
lovers seated in the privacy of the gardens.
Rofe, M, Tung, N.N & Van Anh, L.N 2017, “Balancing tourist aspirations
with local needs: a case study of the Citadel of Hue, Vietnam’, in S Lira,
A Mano, C Pinheiro & R Amoeda (eds.) Tourism 2017: 2nd International
Conference on global Tourism and Sustainability, pp.131 - 138.
Thua Thein Hue Provincial People’s Committee 2015, Management Plan
of the Complex of Hue Monuments for the Period 2015-2020, Vision
2030, Thua Thein Hue Provincial People’s Committee, viewed 12 June,
https://whc.unesco.org/document/138791
United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Promote tourism as a tool for conservation and sustainable
development at World Heritage sites, viewed 15 June 2018,
https://en.unesco.org/system/files/Promote%20tourism%20as%20
a%20tool%20for%20conservation%20and%20sustainable%20
development%20at%20World%20Heritage%20s
Evening childs play. Source: Author
Spectacular evening illumination. Source: Author
SUMMARY
The Citadel of Hue is an activated place. However,
the challenge is to better understand who the
visitors are in Hue and how to enable them to
engage and immerse in the sense of place created
through these types of activations. Likewise,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Teresa Lever is the Economic Development Officer at Swan
Hill in North West Victoria having returned to the profession
after a sabbatical of some years and a renewed passion for
representing the interests of regional Australia. Having worked
as an Export Advisor with Austrade and managed the federally
funded Healthy Communities program in Swan Hill, Teresa
developed an interest in town planning due to the influence
of the built environment on social health and commercial
interactions.
After a placing making experience in the Burdekin, North
Queensland, Teresa headed to Adelaide to completed a
Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Design at the
University of South Australia. In 2018, she received a
scholarship from the University of South Australia to participate
in a study tour to investigate place activation to stimulate tourism
visitation in parts of the UNESCO listed Citadel of Hue, Vietnam.
This paper reflects on the experience of a Vietnamese national
treasure almost razed during the American/Vietnam War.
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