Breathe: Redefining a zone of informal settlements for Ho Chi Minh City

The project has been created from a strong fascination of the author who came from the developing country in South East Asia. A rapid change of a city from urbanization and over-growing population have somehow eradicated the traditional way of living. One of the best examples is in Ho Chi Minh City, in the South of Vietnam. The city is located in the prime location of the Saigon Delta, and it is the biggest city in Vietnam. Within the last 30 years, the population rose from 4 million people to 10 million people. This led to severe environmental problems and housing shortage. Consequently, local people began to settle their houses illegally along the canal to live with the water as their traditional way of living. This so-called informal settlement has expanded all over the water structure of the city, and they are continuing to grow. The current situation has triggered me to explore the potential of landscape architecture to create design interventions to redefine the zone of informal settlement as an opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City and the environment to ‘breathe.’The test site has been chosen in the area with the highest density of informal houses in Doi-Te Canal. The design strategies are composed of four layers which are Collect, Purify, Connect and Adapt. The first two layers are contributed to waste management and water purification. The floating waste on canal surface is captured and separated before transferred to the Biogas station which will be transformed into biogas for community cooking purposes. All of these procedures involved the design intervention which is operated by the community. At the same time, the polluted water is diverted to the purification park, it is directly delivered to 10 different biological ponds before released back to the canal. The third layer referred to the social aspect; the two sides of the canal are linked by the proposed pedestrian routes. The different experiences along the routes together with design interventions created interaction between a diverse group of people and brought the social space back to the Canalside. Lastly, the design also concerned about the adaptable ability to tackle with the unexpected future in the “Adapt” layer. The entire area has been studied to find the possible sponge surfaces to hold the water in case of excessive water. Furthermore, the zone of informal settlements also proposed to function as a low dike to protect the urban district come flooded. Through the process of research by design, the zone of informal settlement is being redefined and integrated into the city. The project has revived the existing landscape and enhance the entire area into a living system which is not only created a better environment but also offered a better quality of life to community and Ho Chi Minh City inhabitants. Most importantly, the intangible quality as the culture of “life with water” is being represented and preserved for the future generation.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Landscape Architectur