UNESCO specialists recommend Vietnam to enlarge a buffer zone of the Hue World Heritage Site to embrace the entire cultural space along the Huong (Perfume) River and important links to the imperial city currently recognised as the World Heritage.
The Hue Cultural Heritage is a complex of relics with historical, culture, artistic and economic values, including the architecture citadel, ramparts, palaces, temples, sanctuaries, shrines and tombs. Ruined by wars and the time, as of 1975, the Citadel Complex of Hue only had 480 relics out of 1,000 existing works but in very bad conditions.
To date, nearly 100 works have been restored and hundreds have been preserved to prevent downgrading. But, a large majority of Hue relics cover a large space and lie in residential areas. About a half of the citizens live in the relic zones. Thus, all activities relating relic preservations are concerned with the people’s lives. Therefore, all preserving activities need to be made in harmony with the nature and the people and make the people benefit from the heritage. This is a hard work.
On August 30, 2007, the Vietnamese Prime Minister signed the Decision No. 143/QD-TTg to approve the project to build Hue into a festival city, typical of Vietnam. Recently, the Government ratified a project to build Hue into a major cultural and tourism centre in the country. Besides, international festivals are the chance for the imperial city to expose its beauty, cultural richness, and successes in domestic and international cooperation to preserve Hue.
In the central region, the heritage itinerary linking Hoi An – My Son (Quang Nam province) – Hue – Phong Nha-Ke Bang (Quang Binh) or the East-West economic corridor connecting Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam are making this place an attractive tourist destination. According to historians, such opportunities are also challenges for the imperial city. First of all is the investment for preserving Hue with grandiose relic complex in a large space. The second is the shortage of human resources for the conservation. The third is the stiff competition in the central and central highland regions where there are six out of seven world heritages in Vietnam. In a larger scale, Hue has to compete with Southeast Asian nations.
The conservation of the citadel complex of Hue is highly effective because it is based on the community, according to historians. Recently, the Hue Historic Monuments Conservation Centre has built a community-based heritage preservation strategy with the support from Nord Pas de Calais region (France) to enhance the public awareness in preventing harmful activities, preserve and promote cultural heritage values. Besides, to overcome current challenges, the support from international communities is an indispensable element. The centre is coordinating with the Urban Solution Organisation (the Netherlands) to investigate and survey a master plan for management of the Citadel Complex of Hue and solutions to make the people benefit from the heritage.
Hoai Duc
Vietnamese
