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[ ] July 2015 / Tam Đảo Summer School Week 2014 / © AFD 55 1.2. Đà Lạt. And the Map Created the City… Pascal Bourdeaux – École française d’Extrême-Orient, Hồ Chí Minh City This presentation was born from a dual celebration, firstly that of the Franco- Việt Nam Year that was straddled between the second semester of 2013 in Việt Nam and the first semester of 2014 in France. It was in this context that the cultural week in Đà Lạt (9 th -15 th December 2013) was organised and its launch consisted notably of the inauguration, on 9 th December 2013, at the Hòa Bình Gallery in Đà Lạt, of an exhibition entitled: “Đà Lạt. And the Map Created the City…”– The second celebration was that of the 120 th anniversary of the exploratory mission of Doctor Yersin on the Lang Bian plateau, which specified for the colonial authorities of this period the natural conditions of this site upon which would be built the future city of Đà Lạt. In order to thus honour the 120 years of urban history in Đà Lạt, of which certain aspects still remain little-known, Olivier Tessier, representative of the ÉFEO in Việt Nam, and myself, who both conceived the project, decided to use historical cartography as an angle of approach. This approach rapidly appeared to be both relevant and original for throwing light upon a whole slice of regional history and especially the current debates concerning the challenges and methods of preserving urban heritage. The documentary research launched in four countries, with the help of several colleagues, received the support of numerous institutional and private collaborators from whom we gathered first-hand documentation and whom we should like to thank here.
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Page 1: 1.2. Đà Lạt. And the Map Created the City… · Đà Lạt. And the Map Created the City… Pascal Bourdeaux – École française d’Extrême-Orient, Hồ Chí Minh City This

[ ]July 2015 / Tam Đảo Summer School Week 2014 / © AFD 55

1.2.ĐàLạt.AndtheMapCreatedtheCity…

Pascal Bourdeaux – Écolefrançaised’Extrême-Orient, Hồ Chí Minh City

This presentation was born from a dual celebration, firstly that of the Franco-Việt  NamYear that was straddled betweenthe second semester of 2013 in Việt Namand the first semester of 2014 in France. Itwas in this  context that the cultural weekin Đà Lạt (9th-15th December 2013) wasorganised and its launch consisted notably of the inauguration, on 9thDecember 2013,at the Hòa Bình Gallery in Đà Lạt, of anexhibition entitled: “Đà Lạt. And the MapCreatedtheCity…”–Thesecondcelebrationwas that of the 120th anniversary of the exploratorymissionofDoctorYersinon theLang Bian plateau, which specified for thecolonial authorities of this period the natural conditions of this site upon which would be builtthefuturecityofĐàLạt.

In order to thus honour the 120 years ofurban  history in Đà Lạt, of which certainaspects still remain little-known, Olivier Tessier, representative of the ÉFEO in ViệtNam, and myself, who both conceived theproject,decidedtousehistoricalcartographyas an angle of approach. This approach rapidly appeared to be both relevant and original for throwing light upon a whole slice of regional history and especially the current debates concerning the challenges and methods of preserving urban heritage. The documentary research launched in four countries, with the help of several colleagues, received the support of numerous institutional and private  collaborators from whom we gathered first-hand documentation and whom we should like to thank here.

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The whole of this large volume of selected, ordered and analysed documentation, allowed us to identify and visualise all the successive town-planning projects on theLangBianplateauandinĐàLạtthroughoutthe20th century and even up to now. Indeed, a forward-looking Franco-Vietnamese study, commissioned by the provincial authorities, submitted its project at the end of 2013for the“Revising of the Đà Lạtmaster planfor  2030, with an outlook for 2050”, whichwas  endorsed by the highest levels of the State and  validated in the middle of 2014.All  this to say that this studyofurbanhistory has come at just the right time toboth present in a new  light the site that is welcoming this Summer School for the second consecutive year and to provide a basis, through this specific case study, for the process of reflection that we are collectively initiating here on the theme of “sustainable urban development”.

This presentation summarises the salient features of the exhibition catalogue thatwe published last December and to which we refer you for more detailed information. We should like to emphasise the multi-disciplinary, methodological and crosscutting dimension of our study in order to see how a dialogue can be created between the disciplines of history, cartography and urban-planning as well as historical and forward-looking approaches.

1.2.1. Introduction

The organisation of an urban space, its division into singular, prioritised and functional units (residential, commercial, administrative, religious, etc.) reflects the diversity of the relationship between power, sociability and status that have fashioned the city from its very beginnings. In other words, by projecting these spatial representationsonto paper, cartography reveals the types

Institutional Collaborators in the Urban History of Đà Lạt1Box

Institutional Collaborators in France Institutional Collaborators in Việt NamArchives nationales de l’Outre-merInstitut PasteurCité de l’architectureMissions étrangères de ParisCouvent des OiseauxService historique de la DéfenseInstitut géographique nationalPhotothèque de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient

State Archives Việt Nam (Centres n°1 in Hà Nội, n°2 in Hồ Chí Minh City, n°4 in Đà Lạt) Lâm Dông MuseumConstruction Service of the City of Đà Lạt

Other Institutional Collaborators Private CollaboratorsCongrès International de l’Architecture Moderne (Zurich, Switzerland)Rikkyo University (Tokyo, Japan)

Architecture Consultancy Interscène Private Fund of the architect VeysseyreNew Association of the Friends of Old HuếEric Jennings (University of Toronto, author of a work about the history of Đà Lạt)Tam Thai, photographer

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of economic, political and social structures that that were implemented, or intended to be implemented, at a given period in time. However, despite claims of controlleddevelopment made by the colonial authorities and later by the Vietnamese, it mustbenoted thatĐàLạttodayiseverythingbut the result of a programmed and linear development.

This recurring phenomenon of urban history becomes obvious when one puts into perspective the various development plans proposed between 1906 and 1994.In retrospect,theyareevidenceofthemajorclash between perfectly ordered urban planning and its more disordered and chaotic implementation. This shows that human beings do not allow themselves to be trapped in predefined categories, activities or spaces that they judgetobetoodistant fromtheireveryday reality and from their individual and/or collective aspirations.

Đà Lạt presents the characteristics of allhill stations. They are recent creations and none is the development of a primitive nucleus. They have not undergone the slow development of cities nor the obligations inherentofanoldstructure.Nothingcompelsthem to orient their building towards one type of architectural expression, and acomplete freedom of composition must be taken (Indochine hebdomadaire illustré, 1943). Furthermore, one principle underliesits urban  development, the principle of zoning that consists in subdividing urban space according to the nature of use. The planning thus sought to rationalise the development of space by conciliating two intrinsiccharacteristicsofthecolonialsystem:

the cohabitation of civilians and military personnel, and the segregation of European and indigenous populations.

The city, which was a place where troops were stationed and a place of rest according to the first projections, then oscillatedbetween several destinies (sanatorium, hill station, political centre). Then the beginningofthe1960smarkeditstransitiontowards a Vietnamese urbanisation as a logical consequence of the transfer ofpublic services and a Vietnamesation of its residential zones. Until 1975, although thecity still developed its tourist, educational and religiousfunctions,it wasaboveallquestionsof security and public utility that motivated the initiatives taken in  the city. The city also affirmed its vocation for science and higher education. After a decade in sleep mode, the implementation of the renovation policy (đổi  mới – 1986) launched a new urbandynamic.Newquestionswerenowaskedasto what orientation the city should be given. In1994,amasterplanwasapprovedat thehighest state levels in order to redefine the geography of the city and the region with objectives for the 21th century. The latest recent revisions allow us to visualise these future orientations.

If, for a certain time, the map undoubtedly created the city by cultivating the image of a “little tropical France” (Le Brusq, 1999),the  contextualisation of the historicalcartography and its combination with a prospective cartography might shed light on the choices that are emerging today and whichwill leadtotheevolutionofĐàLạtinthe near and more distant future.

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1.2.2. The “Discovery” and the Exploratory Missions (1881 -1905)

Aware of their ignorance about most of the territory that had become a French colony in 1867, the military and civil authoritiesin Cochin China launched a series of exploratorymissionsintheCentralHighlandsat the beginning of the 1880s. The first ofthese, which was led by Doctor Paul Néisand lieutenant Albert Septans, reached the Lang  Bian plateau in 1881 after havingfollowed the  Đồng Nai River to its sourcewhere,in 1889,Humannestablishedthefirstdetailed mapofthe“LangaandUpperDonaïValleys”.

Consequently, Yersin was not the firstEuropeantosetfootontheLangBianplateau,but his mission from February to October 1893, which aimed to assess the region’sresourcesandstudyaroadproject,signalledthebirthofthefutureĐàLạt.His“discovery”oftheLangBianplateauonthe21stofJuneis to be relativised because there is proof of a human presence there long before this date (Lat,Sre,M’NôngChilBih).

Lang Bian Plateau in 1925

Source: New Association of Friends of Old Huê.

1Photo

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In1897,Doumer,whowantedtoestablishahill station for sanitary reasons, sounded out YersinforwhomtheLangBianplateaufulfilledall the criteria: “suitable altitude, sufficient surface area, temperate climate, availability of water, and accessible”. Furthermore, Doumer installed a meteorological station and a station foragriculturalexperimentationnearthesmallmilitarypostofDangKia.

Between 1897 and 1900, several topo-graphical, medical and meteorological missions were led to assess the site’saccessibility and healthiness. The conclusions were that Đà  Lạt would require enormoushuman and financial  efforts, which gavecertain people reason to be critical of

the project. A new study mission led byDebay, Yersin’s rival, was then launched incentralAnnam(1900) toBà Nà.But itcouldnot prevent the project that was alreadyunderway.

The first Development Work on Access Roads to Đà Lạt

In 1898, ballasting work on the Phan Rang– ĐàLạtroadbeganandtheroadwaspavedand drivable over 48 km then continuedasamulepath.OnlyBalachBridgeand themule path needed to be strengthened and widened. The route for a railway was also studied from Thap Cham to the detriment of NhaTrang.Butthefinancialandhumancost

Darlac Region

Source: Archives, Institut Pasteur, 38341.

2Map

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of the enterprise was enormous. The human cost is estimated at several thousand, a figure HồChíMinhusedtocitetheconstructionofroadstoĐàLạtasanexampletoillustratetheterrible colonial abuses.

1.2.3. The Premises of a Future City

In 1901 Đà Lạt had only a handful ofadministrative buildings that were mostly still under construction, a few military barracks as well as a large wooden building that served as a hotel.

Butfromitsveryorigin,theĐàLạtsanatoriumwas conceived to fulfil a dual military and civil vocation, which determined the dual organisation of the space.

The Champoudry Plan (1906)

Paul Champoudry, the first Résident-Maire of Đà Lạt appointed in 1900, initiated thefirsturbanreferenceplanapproved in1906,which  defined a segregation between the military (the part north of the plateau up to Mont Lang Bian) and civil (southernpart ofthe plateau) areas then a second between the European and indigenous residential quarters. This plan also defined the zoningprinciple in order to group together central public institutions and services that functionedforpartoftheyear:- In the centre and to the west: the

administrative quarter, a mixed hospitalandcommercialzone;

- Intheeast:therailwaystationandacollegeextendedfromtheresidentialzone.

In reality, Đà Lạt stagnated, because of alack of financing, until the beginning of the 1910s. At this period the city only had

a dozen  wooden chalets and a few brick buildings that constituted its administrative centre.

The Turning Point of the Great War

The conjunction of two factors broughtĐàLạtbacktolife:- The outbreak of World War I hampered

the periodic return of settlers to mainland France, thus forcing them to remain in Indochina;

- After multiple delays, certain infrastructure projectswerecompleted(thewideningofthe PhanThiết –Djiring –Đà Lạt road in1914; the completion of the Tháp Chàm– XomGonrailwaylinein1916).

The creation of the commune of Đà Lạtand the province of Lang Bian were madeofficialbythedecreeof6thofJanuary1916.The Royal  Decree of 20th April 1916 ratifiedthis decision. The urban centre of Đà Lạtthus became a French territory within the protectorate of Annam.

The Emergence of the City

In response to the increase in the number of  the European tourists who had been visiting, Ernest Roume ordered the building of  villas and a grand hotel, the Lang BianPalace (today known as the Đà Lạt Palace,built  between 1916 and 1922). Whenhe returned to Indochina, Albert Sarraut organised conscription for public work dedicated to the construction of a sanatorium and its access roads.

It was also at this period that the artificial lake was created in the centre of the city.

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The O’Neill Plan (1919): A Rebalancing of Territory in Favour of the Civilian Population

In1919, JeanO’Neill,proposedanew townplanconceivedaccordingtothreeguidelines:- The land hold of the military camp was

largely reduced and relocated to the north-westandsouth-eastoftheurbanperimeter;

- Secondly, the territory that constituted public land (state property), which was thus freed up, was allotted in “for sale” and “reserved”plots;

- Downstream from the dam of the artificial lake that was under construction, a space was allotted for the implantation of an “Annamese” village.

Although the initial dual purpose of the city was maintained, land occupation was rebalanced in favour of the civilian population. The private or public demand for

temporary or definite concessions of state land illustrated this evolution of the use of space.

Subsequent to the Royal Decree of11th  October 1920, which made the LangBian plateau an autonomous district withinthe eponymous province, the decree of 31st  October made the creation of the commune of Đà Lạt official and specifiedthe nature of its administrative organisation.

The Hébrard Plan (1923) or the Idea of Đà Lạt as a Capital City

Hébrard’s plan focused on the creationof a political and administrative centre of paramount importance, which would also serve the functions of leisure and convalescence.Heendedupproposingthree“cities”inone:

View of Đà Lạt Lake (1919)

Source: New Association of Friends of Old Huê.

2Photo

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- AtrueAnnamesequarterthatheplannedtoextendtothenorthofthevillagethathadbeenpredefinedbyO’Neill.HesuggestedthecreationofasecondAnnamesequarternear the government centre if the first shouldbecreated;

- A European residential city composed of threebigallotments;

- An administrative centre that would eventually be the summer capital of the Indochinese Union.

Pursuing this logic, he planned the building of a huge “government centre” (175 ha) tothe east of the city, which was supposed to become the Indochinese administrative capital.

This plan overlooked the essential questionof the development of tourist infrastructures and landscaping. This project, which wasapprovedin1923,provedtobetooambitious.Ultimately, only one of the three residential developments and the path around the lake were built.

Accessroadsimprovedandin1918itbecamepossibletodrivefromSaigontoĐàLạtinoneday. In 1919, the Phan Rang – Đà Lạt roadbecame drivable from end to end.

The construction of a rack railway took longer than planned: it was 1938 before the newstation was open for service.

The Craze for Đà Lạt and its Consequences

Đà Lạt was also a holiday and leisuredestination. Everything was done to attract tourists by offering them a pleasantand functional urban framework that corresponded to aesthetic criteria and architectural coherence. One of its attractions wasbiggamehunting.ĐàLạtofferedseveral

itineraries, especially on the plateau, for walking excursions around the city or byautomobile.

In order towelcome a rich clientele, luxuryhotels opened between 1921 and 1922:the Lang Bian Palace, the Desanti Hotel,the  Hotel du Parc, then a few years later the Hotel AnnamandtheHotelChicShanghai.

In1930,thecitywashometo350Europeansandalmost10,000Vietnamese,notincludinga seasonal population of 1,700, many ofwhom were from Saigon. This growth in population confirmed the city as a tourist destination and military constructions were removed from the city centre.

1.2.5. The Contrasting Ambitions of a Capital-City (1932-1940)

The Pineau Plans

The 1930s were a decade full of ambitionfor the city. A new and extremely precisemaster plan, drafted by the town planner Pineau, propelled Đà Lạt towards realurban development integrated into the environment. A series of diagnostic plans and projectplanssetoutthedesiredorientationsin a thematic manner. Pineau insisted on enlarging the lake and the gardens, on architectural diversity in order to create a “hotel-city”, and on preserving sites and natural spaces.

Access to and mastery of water were at the heart of the city’s expansion process, asmuch for reasons of sanitation, wellness, and bio-agronomic experimentation as foranticipated  answers to future water and energy needs.The lakes turnedĐà Lạt intoa garden city. But in May 1932, a typhooncaused flooding resulting in 17 deaths, all

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Vietnamese. The disaster encouraged city developers to adopt more effective riskmanagement and prevention policies. The dam burst also accelerated the project forthe enlargement of the lake (dredging, development of the lakeside, creation of the nautical club “la Grenouillère”).

New Urban Functionalities and Landscaping Extensions

In 1936, reorganised Đà Lạt was dividedinto an urban and suburban zone. 1937marked the resurrection of ambitions to build an administrative city. Đà Lạt becamehome to numerous public services and representations of colonial power. Emperor Bảo Đại went there regularly. New publicservices developed: the big public hospitalwasbuiltin1932,therailwaystationandthemarket garden area were redeveloped, the Grand Lycée was renamed Lycée Alexander Yersin in 1935, and an annex to the PasteurInstitutewasinauguratedin1936.

Although Đà Lạt had had an Annamitequarterforalongtime,thisdecadewasthatof the first phase of its densification and sustainable development. In addition to the Vietnamese residential, commercial, and market garden zones, a second indigenous city was developed to the West, near the railway station.

Đà Lạt remained above all a city of restand leisure. Tourism, social events, and gastronomy were complemented by sports, fitness, and the beginnings of a local cultural life. On the one hand, “French” food products that were severely lacking elsewhere could be found there. On the other hand, sporting infrastructures made it the main centre for sports in the colony (tennis lessons, cycle tracks,horse-ridingequipment,nauticalclub,

eighteen hole golf course and a football pitch). The green landscape that surrounded Đà Lạt was yet another point of attraction.One of the development orientations consisted in conceiving a “landscape-city” on theLangBianplateau, inotherwordsacityin the forest. This involved the constitution ofaclearanceanglethatpreservedthecity’sexceptional panorama of the mountains.Inside the city, the enlargement of parks and public places preserved his natural heritage.

1.2.6. Balance Sheets and Overruns of Colonial Planning

Theearly1940swasaperiodofnewurbaninnovation. The colonial authorities launched new projects to embellish and expandthe city. The latter formed part of a more general strategy for the rationalising of urban planning  throughout French Indochina. In December 1940, a central service ofurban planning and architecture as well as a high commission for the embellishment, development and extension of cities werecreated for this purpose and began their respectivemissionsin1941.

The Lagisquet plan of 1943 was the lastattempt  to structure future plans. Some peoplesawĐàLạtasa“smallpartofFrancein the tropics” whose landscape and other aestheticassetsneededtobepreserved.Buttheprojectalsohadtoaddressdemographicchallenges. The more regulated central planning paid particular attention to agriculture and the army. Decoux insistedparticularly on educational and sporting infrastructures for youth and implemented a new social housing policy in the suburbs.

Đà Lạt became a permanent capital underDecoux.When the Đà Lạt Conference was

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organised in 1946, it became an illusoryIndochinese federal capital. Then in 1949,Bảo ĐạimadeitapointtosettletherewhenhereturnedtoreignoverVietNam.Hemadeit his non-official capital to rule the State of Viet Nam and the Highland territories thatwere under his direct authority.

In November 1950,Trần ĐìnhQuê becamethe first Vietnamese mayor of the city. The city  became home to new military infrastructures (School for the children of Eurasian troops, École Interarmes founded in 1950) and interprovincial and nationalorganisations. The  1950s marked thetransitionofĐàLạt fromacolonialcity toaVietnamese municipality to which power was gradually transferred.

Urban Embellishment and Landscape Preservation

From 4,500 in 1935, the population tripledin 1942 (14,000) to reach 25,500 in 1944.Between 1946 and 1953, a dozen or sovillages were created, often depending on themigrants’provincesoforigin.

A certain architectural eclecticism can be seen in the many religious buildings whose construction began in the 1930s andcontinuedintothe1950s.AswellasthemanyCatholic religious buildings, the city was also home to small temples, an impressive mausoleum devoted to Nguyễn Hữu Hàoandpagodas.Intotaltherewere40pagodas,29 chapels and churches and 15 Catholicorders.

Asaconsequenceofthelackofconstructionprojects,thelandscapeperspectives(thenon aedificandi zones) and vantage points could be preserved. The gardens and horticultural zones strengthened the harmony between

the architecture and the natural sites in the city.

This period certainly represents Đà Lạt’sgolden age of architecture and landscape. The city offered a wide palette of styles. In1942, there were 730 villas and as manygardens. Public buildings were built in a modernist style. Those built during this period were above all functional. This architectural heritage became an emblem of the city, encapsulating a certain aesthetic maturity.

1.2.7 The Provincialising of Đà Lạt (1955-1993)

The Modernity of Đà Lạt in the Middle of the 1960s

During the 1960s, the French colonial citywas transformed under the influence of a nationalisation of public services and a Vietnamisation of its residential zones and city services. Its development was naturally restrained by the context of war. Althoughinfrastructures were strengthened to make ĐàLạtamulti-purposecity,theeffortsmadeto launch new town planning projects ledto nothing really exceptional. The 1943Lagisquet Plan was even reused under theNgô Đình Diệm government. What wesaw  was more a “provincialising” of the city. In  1958, administrative boundary changesled tothecreationof theprovinceofTuyênĐứcwithĐàLạtas itsadministrativecapital.The 1960s saw the implementation ofpreviously decided modernisation effortsin the city, but there was no real attempt to add to them.

ThepopulationofĐàLạthadreached60,000.Agricultural activity intensified, the city centre became more and more populated and new

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villas were built. In order to meet the demands of commerce, a new and more spacious and  multi-level market was inaugurated in 1960.

In addition to all these schools, Đà Lạt alsohad, in the 1960s, a pontifical college thatbecame a faculty of theology, a French cultural centre and a municipal library. The city’sscientific vocation was finally asserting itself (agronomic and horticultural experimental

centre, the Da Nhim hydroelectric plant[1959-1964], the centre of atomic research,Institut Pasteur, Geography Institute, and local Office of Statistics). A university, which  had been imagined at a much earlier date, opened in 1957 in a space that had been reservedfor  it to the north of the lake. Despite  the vagaries of war, Đà Lạt remained a majortourist destination in Việt Nam. During thisperiod there was a re-appropriation of the site and the emergence of a real local tourism.

General View of Đà Lạt (1966)

Source: Origin unknown, Interscène-Southern Institute of Urban Planning.

3Photo

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Towards New Orientations (1980)

Reunification and the years that followed were  marked by a hiatus in the city’sdevelopment and all expansion projects.After  1975, the entire urban area wasreadapted  as well as its French heritage, which was  put to new use or progressively neglected. Đà Lạt was subject to thedevelopment of the new surrounding economic zones and placed under the direct control of the Central State. The population stabilised atmore than 100,000 inhabitants.Agriculture and the exploitation of naturalresources increased even more. The lakes and dams were maintained. Despite this, there was an impression of slow degradation. The political reform for economic renewal initiated a new dynamic and, at the same time, put increased pressure on old buildings, land and the environment. New questionsarose about in which direction the city was going. The 1993 celebrations marking thecentenary of the “discovery” of the LangBianplateauand thesiteofĐàLạtwereanopportunity to launch general reflection on the city’s future. In 1994, amasterplanwasapproved at the highest level of the State in order to propel the city and the region’sdevelopmenttowardsthe21st century.

1.2.8. Projections for a Greater Đà Lạt in the 21st Century

Đà Lạt at the Dawn of the 21st Century

A project aimed at developing municipalandprovincialtouristicactivitiesin2010wasdefined in1996.A2001resolutionspecifiedthe objectives in terms of infrastructure,services and environmental protection.

Just before the year 2000, Đà Lạt obtainedthe classification of second rank city and it

wasfinallyonMay27th 2002 that thePrimeMinister approved the orientation plan of Đà  Lạt (393  km2) and of the Lâm Đồngprovince for the following two decades.

Interurban and Interprovincial Diagnostics

The new orientations for spatial planning foreseeninthe“GreaterĐàLạt”study,whichfocuses on the sustainable development, havetwoobjectives:- Đà Lạtmust become a first category city

through a doubling of its population projectedfor2050(980,000inhabitants);

- As a resort city with a unique climate inViệt Nam, Đà Lạt has fixed for itself thedual challenge of succeeding its touristic development, estimated at 10 millionvisitors per year, while preserving its remarkable characteristics of landscape and its exceptional horticultural, floriculturaland agricultural activities.

The establishment of a diagnostic of the entire territory allowing the re-evaluation of the assets and weaknesses of the site must enable the orientation of the necessary choices for the development of Greater Đà  Lạt within a new perimeter that nowcovers a territory of 3,355 km2. It questionsthe role, the image, and the dynamic of Đà Lạtin thisnewterritory,whichincludes,inaddition to the city, the municipalities of Đức Trọng, Đơn  Dương, Lạc Dương and part ofthatofLâmHà.

To achieve this, the province of Lâm Đồnghas put forward certain key axes relatingto the potentials of this territory, such as touristic development, poles of excellencein the domain of education and research, agricultural production and the development of new technologies.

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These choices are thus based on a strategic vision and spatial planning orientations that must meet the expectations of thesustainable development of the territory.

The potentials of this territory allow the planning of a balanced development based onfourcomplementarystrategicpoles:1.The city of Đà Lạt will be reorganised

within  the limits of its plateau. The prestigious resort will be characterised by the protection and development of its landscapes, heritage, views, wooded areas, etc.;

2.ItwilldeveloptwotouristicclustersaroundtheDangKiaandTuyênLâmlakes;

3.A new city to the south (Liên Nghĩa) willhost the majority of the new economicareasandresidentialzones;

4.Twoeco-citieswillbecentredaroundtheruralvillagesofNamBanandQuangLaptothe east and west of the new city.

1.2.9. Conclusion

The Map Created the City. Will the City Recreate the Map?

If the “map created the city”, will it play a determiningroleinthenearfuture?Readingthedevelopmentplans,weseethatdifferentprojects have, to different degrees, had theambition of transforming Đà Lạt into a hillstation, sanatorium, burgeoning city, hotel city, resort city, garden city, summer capital, capital city, touristic city, city of agronomic andhorticulturalexperimentation,universityand scientific city, and first category city.

Situation Map

Province of Lam Dong: 9,773 km2

Field Study: 3,355 km2

Commune of Da Lat: 393 km2

Source: Interscène-Southern Institute of Urban Planning.

3Map

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[ ] July 2015 / Tam Đảo Summer School Week 2014 / © AFD68

ĐàLạtandLangBianareinseparableand,inthe end, form one single entity. Successive phases of urban development have, from the beginning, sought to preserve the surrounding nature.

These criteria are still at work to envision a future city that will be conscious of sustainable development, integrated into and respectful of the environment, which, morethananywhereelse,mustmakeĐàLạta first category city while at the same time preserving its soul as an original “landscape city”.

The history of this city naturally shows some particularities, but Đà Lạt, like many othercities around the world, must rise to a series of demographic, economic, environmental and heritage-related challenges that illustrate its current urban transition.

Bibliographical References

ANONYMOUS(1943),«Lesstationsderepos »,Indochine hebdomadaire illustré, special editionn°155 « l’architecturemoderne enIndochine»,19August,p.21.

BOURDEAUX,P. andO.TESSIER (Eds.) (2013),Đà  Lạt – Et la carte créa la ville (trilingual French,Vietnamese,English),Hanoi,Nxb TriThức & EFEO.

DƯƠNG,T.Q (Ed.) (2008), Đà Lạt Xưa, TP HồChíMinh,TạpchíXưa&Nay,NhàxuấtbảnXưa &Nay,NhàXuấtbảnVănhóaSàiGòn.

INTERSCENE&SIUP(2013),Révision du Master plan de Dalat pour 2030, avec une vision à 2050.

JENNINGS, E. (2011), Imperial Heights - Dalat and the Making and Undoing of French Indochina, University of California Press, Berkeley.

HERBELIN, C. (2010), « Architecture eturbanisme en situation coloniale : le casduViệtNam»,doctoralthesis«Histoiredel’art »,UniversityParis-Sorbonne.

LE BRUSQ, A. and L. De Selva (1999), Việt Nam : A travers l’architecture coloniale, éd. de l’Amateur:Patrimoineetmédias,Paris.

SỬDỊA.(1971),«ĐặckhảoĐàLạt»,n°23-24,SaiGon.

TAMTHAI,(2009),Ngày Xưa Lang bian Đà Lạt, NhàXuất bảnVăn hóaThông tin, HồChíMinh City.

TRƯƠNGP.Â.andD.NGUYỄN (1993),Đà Lạt trăm năm, A Hundred Years History of Dalat, Công  ty văn hóa tổng hợp Lâm Đồngxuất bản.

Ủy ban nhân dân thành phố Đà Lạt, 1993,Đà Lạt thành phố Cao Nguyên,NxbTp.HồChíMinh,HồChíMinhCity.