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10TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON URBANISM: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL CITY

Mobilized Territories in More-Than-Relational Public Spaces. The Hanoian Sidewalk Territories of Resistance. Ta, Anh-Dung National University of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Hanoi, Vietnam Manfredini, Manfredo (Corresponding Author) School of Architecture and Planning, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand [email protected] Telephone +64 21 2568674

Abstract The Vietnamese government has been issuing a series of urban renewal policies with the aim of attracting international elites and investments. One of their most important strategies is to renovate and upgrade current public spaces in Hanoi, particularly focusing on the Ancient Quarter. A wide range of traditional activities, considered obsolete or inappropriate, have been banned through the implementation of blanket sidewalk clearance policies. The distinctive high socio-spatial relationality, local distinctiveness and diversity have been destabilised. Being stripped of social and cultural values, some of these spaces have been transformed into commodities of a globalised and homogeneous consumption-driven realm. In other areas, local people oppose this process, defending their forms of territorial appropriation and association, continuously producing and reproducing spaces that offer chances for accidental encounter, unexpected action and accommodate a multifarious practices in an active and dynamic play. The present paper explores the production of such territories, acknowledging that they are sources of enrichment and wellbeing, provide contribution to the sustainable development of the city, and empower citizens to play an active and unique role in development initiatives. Using actor-network theory, the paper attempts to disentangle the complex dynamic territorial processes to (1) explain how people use spatial elements to territorialise these spaces, and (2) describe the dynamics of their fleeting territories. Keywords: Public Space, Public Space, Territoriality, Hanoi, Actor-Network Theory, Everyday Life


1. Introduction: Territorialisation, consumption and everyday incremental processes in the production of public space. 1.1

The “consumed city” and the “creative city” Commodification and privatisation of public spaces

Politicians, business investors, city planners, architects and the like are driving our city towards a city of consumption (Miles & Miles, 2004) or landscapes of consumption (Zukin, 1991, 1998). The reason is because economic development is contingent on abilities to offer consumption rather than production opportunities as it was in the past (Jayne, 2006). Consumption here is not simply seen as literal goods or services to be sold, but “increasingly about ideas, services and knowledge – places, shopping, eating, fashion, leisure and recreation, sights and sounds can all be “consumed” (Jayne, 2006, p. 5). The historical development of the phenomenon has been depicted by Colin Campbell in his publication “The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism”. Campbell (1987) argues that before the eighteenth century, consumption practices were still limited and mainly involved actual needs. However, there has appeared a change in people’s consuming behaviours as consumers tend to buy products according to the attached symbolic meaning and social status rather than their specific functions. Steven Miles stresses on this state of affair by distinguishing the idea of “consumption” and its broader concepts of “consumerism” and “consumer culture”. As a result, cities have been oriented to satisfy consumers’ dreams and imaginations, leading to the attachment of “cultural” and “creative” interventions in the production process. This addresses the reason for the prioritisation of principles of “liveability” and “creativity” in policies and investments to enhance cities competitiveness (Baycan, 2011; Ho & Douglass, 2008; Jayne, 2006; Scott, 2006). The focus is on a regeneration through creative interventions and cultural activities (P. Cooke & Lazzeretti, 2008; Richards & Palmer, 2010), representing a shift towards creative, cultural products, the presence of skilled labours driving the new knowledge/creative economy and the infrastructure behind them (Baycan, 2011; Hospers & Dalm, 2005; Hutton, 2016; Sassen, 2012). A

shift from manufacturing industries to creative cities happens due to the fact that the

latter generates more profits than the former (Landry & Franco Bianchini, 1995). Indeed, industrial production no longer symbolically and economically stands for a city’s triumph (Evans, 2003). The global competition among nations is no longer based on natural


resources, advantageous locations or reputation from the past, but rather on the ability to establish and develop brand images (Landry & Franco Bianchini, 1995; Miles & Miles, 2004), which in fact is a creative feature (Evans, 2003). So as to compete with others, the ambition of today cities is to achieve world-class quality, distinctive image (Evans, 2003; Florida, 2014; Landry, 2008; Landry & Franco Bianchini, 1995) and eventful character (Richards & Palmer, 2010). Creative governance policies theoretically aims to produce authentic, plural places that stimulate social participation and inclusion 1, however today governments have been mainly inspired by two types of creativity (organisation & business management and marketing & communications) that relate to economic development and normally lead to the reverse (Laundry & Bianchini, 1995) 2. Steven Miles and Malcolm Miles (2004) argue that cities are giving priority to just consumption, and the vision of creative city is more towards the city for the efficient of consumption rather than for all people. Although consumption-driven context might open up possibilities for new social and cultural integration, consumers here mainly refer to the affordable, middle-class and rich inhabitants, excluding the working-class and urban poor in our society (Jayne, 2006; Miles & Miles, 2004). In this context, city spaces are not only consumer places, but also have been treated as a commodity that prioritises economic exchange and neglects its use values in everyday life of surrounding communities (Jayne, 2006; Purcell, 2014). Urban spaces and places are being increasingly constructed, marketed and sold as centres of consumption, especially when cities are competing with others to become international consumption nodes (Jayne, 2006; Manfredini, 2017; Manfredini, Xin & Jenner, 2017). This trend is significantly related to the emergence of privatisation that has resulted in new forms of architecture in today cities as David Harvey (2000) points out: (1) urban gated communities that excludes the poor and promotes social segregation and (2) “commercialized utopias” (p. 168) referring to Disneyland (and the like) and shopping malls that induce people to a fantasy world to consume.

1

Creative city does not mean a city for only talents or creative people (Laundry & Bianchini, 1995), instead it

should satisfy all its citizens’ demands and stimulates creativity among its citizens (Yencken, 1988). 2

As Laundry and Bianchini (1995) predict: “There are different and seemingly contradictory types of creativity.

The challenge of creativity is to recognize that opposites can be part of the same wholes (p. 22).”


The privatisation of public space has also attracted increasing attention since public space substantially contributes to the consumption-driven basis of the service economy (Glaeser, 2011; Madanipour, 1999, 2013), the transformation of city’s images (Inroy, 2000; Madanipour, 1999), and the character of localities (Madanipour, 1999). Subsequently, there appears growing demands of improving, renovating existing public spaces as well as creating new places in many countries. Through private-public partnership, private sectors play an important role in offsetting financial burdens of public administrations (Defilippis, 1997; Loukaitou-Sideris, 1993; Hodkinson, 2012; Kärrholm, 2016; Minton, 2012). Moreover, private sectors also offer efficient control and management and help to increase the number of public spaces (Németh & Schmidt, 2011). However private-public partnership means that the private takes the profits while the public takes the risks. The phenomenon particularly occurs in cities with neoliberal framework, where developers are increasingly granted political and financial power (Harvey, 2000). In accordance with this opinion, Loukaitou-Sideris (1993) argues that developers have political and financial power to bend the so-called public spaces in their projects to become segregated places, which tend to attract a certain part of rather than all the public. More recently, Benjamin Barber (2001) notes that privatization does not emancipate, but rather diminish civil autonomy and that public spaces formerly considered as the symbol of plurality are put aside. With the rise of economic activities in the public realm, all matters pertaining to the private have been placed over the public, causing the loss of equality, empowering and apparitional role in public spaces (Arendt, 2013; Benhabib, 1992). The public good becomes interchangeable with economic benefit, and this has shifted the delicate balance between private and public interests decisively in favour of the former (Minton, 2012). Accordingly, public spaces are no longer open systems, accessible to all and encouraging freedom of action, temporary claim and ownership (Brill, 1989; Hénaff & Strong, 2001; Young, 1986), but rather have become over-determined, diminishing diversity and multiplicity (Sennett, 2006). The meaning of public space has been threatened and distorted in contemporary society, reflected by the dominance of “the narrative of loss” in literature (Davis, 1992; Mitchell, 1995; Sennett, 1992; Sorkin, 1992). However, a renewed effort to defend its key role is emerging at all levels of our society, which promotes civic engagement, cultural expression,


enhances social cohesion and inclusion, and engenders a sense of belonging and ownership (UN Habitat, 2016). 1.2 “Insurgent” urbanism Much research has focused on vibrant grassroots activities within larger social, political and economic contexts, examining the contested nature of public space and the idea of “agonistic pluralism” (Mouffe, 1999). The originator of such studies was William. H Whyte, with his famous Street Life Project. Different from two previous major approaches to analyse public space: form-oriented research (Moughtin, 1999; Sitte, 1986), and form-cognition studies (Appleton, 1975; Kaplan & Kaplan, 1982; Lynch, 1960), Whyte (1988) examines the linkage between form and activities. Particularly, Whyte observed ordinary New Yorkers’ daily practices in public spaces and noticed the correlations between their activities, uses and designed elements. With the aim of identifying what spatial features might increase the use of public space, White did not scrutinise people’s spatial practices according to their social, cultural or political driver. Instead, he aimed for a universal understanding of people’s activities in public areas. As such, his work neither discussed the conflicts among different social groups’ spatial practices, nor explained why and how a social group can access, occupy and use a space, while others cannot. This argument is important to consider in today context, as Setha Low (2006) argues contemporary public space is not only facing the threat of being unused, but also the threat of controls, management and designs that intend to leave the space only for middle class people, limiting undesirables and diversity. Margaret Crawford (1995) advanced White’s work and went a step further by focusing on “insurgent” social groups such as street vendors, homeless people and immigrants, and reporting how these people, through their lived experiences and practices, were reshaping Los Angeles’s “residual” public places. Criticizing the dominant narrative of loss, Crawford directed scholars’ attention to different kinds of public areas like sidewalks, vacant lots, front yards and garages, where grassroots actors appropriate the space and produce new forms of social and political arenas. Crawford coined the term Everyday Urbanism, conceived as an alternative approach that reconnects “urban research and design with ordinary human and social meanings” (2008, p. 12). In support of this notion, John Kaliski (2008) traces back to the most influential ideas in the recent 100 year-history of urban planning and design, and shows the gap between the practice of city design and the dynamics of everyday life. Crawford’s idea (1995) has influenced many other scholars who share the same interest in ethnic minorities’ remaking of vacant, open public areas in North American and European context (Millar, 2008; Rojas, 2010; Rojas & Chase, 2008; Vergara, 2008). In Asian cities, with a different social-cultural context, many scholars argue that the meaning attached to public space is different from that in North American and European cities (Drummond, 2000; L. Law, 2002). Particularly, main public spaces like communal houses,


temples and squares (adopted from Western culture) normally signify the rulers’ power (the state or the village council), rather than being a social, political arena for the public (Drummond, 2000; L. Law, 2002). Jeffrey Hou (2010, p. 3) argues: “in countries influenced by Confucianism in the East, social and individual life is dictated predominantly by obligations to state and family, with little in between. The official public space is traditionally either nonexistent or tightly controlled by the state.” So far, there has appeared two major branches in literature concerning everyday making of public spaces in the Asian context. The first intends to assess the publicness of main public spaces in Asian cities. Some key publications are the works of Anna-Katharina Hornidge & Kurf Kurfürst (2011) and Mandy Thomas (2001) with a focus on Vietnam and Lisa Law (2002) with an interest in Hong Kong. These authors reach the same conclusion that the traditional perception of public space in Asia has been challenged as regular citizens have been appropriating these places to satisfy their private and leisure purposes, instead of being dominated by the state’s control. The second influenced by Crawford is towards “left-over” public areas. The main argument is that the globalisation is gradually decontextualizing the social, spatial and cultural association in contemporary Asian cities. Following this line of thought, some scholars attempt to investigate temporary occupation and adaptive reuse of “unofficial” public and left-over places, highlighting grassroots resistance to such tendency. A recent example of this approach is the book written by William. S. Lim (2014). By looking into “residual” public areas like forgotten cemeteries, railway corridors, void decks, and the like in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Taiwan, Lim offers an overall view of the phenomenon in Asia. 1.3 Understanding Hanoi Ancient Quarter The sidewalks of Hanoi Ancient Quarter (AQ) are an example of places that pose resistance to such reterritorializing tendencies and tenaciously preserve their unique cultural and socio-spatial patrimony. These places often entail public realms with deeply rooted, idiosyncratic practices developed over centuries of informal and incremental processes. Hanoi’s AQ (also known as the 36 Old Streets) originated from the old Commoner’s City, the main settlement near the royal city, situated next to the Red River – the main river of the Gulf of Tonkin. As such, the district has had an advantage as the place where traders from neighbouring villages gathered and stored their goods and products for the royal helite, as indicated also by the old name of Hanoi: “Ke Cho” - a marketplace. Appropriation of sidewalk space is widespread in the district. Residential overcrowding and lack of compensatory living areas 3 have pushed people out onto the streets and led to an

3

The population density of the area reached 823 people per hectare in 2010, with about 5000 business


ambivalence and a temporary inversion of private and public space. Lisa Drummond (2000) coins the terms inside-out and outside-in to address the phenomenon. Inside-out refers to the encroachment of domestic/private activities on sidewalk spaces, in a way that renders these spaces seemingly private. In contrast, outside-in implies a reformulation of domestic identity, supported by state campaigns, promoting a “culture of family” and a new way of life with reinstitution of “the proper nature of women’s roles” (p. 2385). Lack of living area, however, is not the only reason for the inside-out phenomenon. Appropriation of public spaces for commercial activities is rampant (Drummond, 2000; Kim, 2015; Kürten, 2008). These practices reflect the ingrained habits of local people to integrate living and trading spaces and expand them with informal commercial areas to augment exposure to consumers. These territorial appropriations support the integration of resident communities, migrants and transients, providing social empowerment both on an individual and collective level, strengthening place identity and attachment and fostering inclusion. This paper analyses the formalisation of grassroots territories on AQ’s the sidewalks. It hypothesizes that the more grassroots territories it retains (a territory in our research is defined as a geographical space effectively used and controlled by an individual or a social group), the more successful the sidewalk becomes as a social and political arena. The number and complexity of territories upon a particular sidewalk are interpreted as reflection of its diversity 4 and inclusion. This not only refers to the variety of people and their practices, but also to the multifariousness of social group dynamics and bonding networks. In order to analyse these sidewalks, we firstly observe material elements and people’s behaviours, and from this, we diachronically map their fleeting territories. 1.4 Hanoi’s Ancient Quarter sidewalk clearance policy Since 2008, the Vietnamese government has activated a strategic plan to clear these “inappropriate” activities from the sidewalks, with the aim of leaving the spaces available only to pedestrians. In 2008, a decree was issued to ban street vendors’ activities from 63 streets of the central district and public spaces around historical sites, official buildings, hospitals, schools, and households (Chi, Nga, & Anh, 2011), and the government has proposed a plan to reduce the number to 500/ha by 2020 (Tu, 2015). A recent paper estimated that per capita living area in the district ranges from 0.5 to 1.8 m2 (Loan, 2004). Moreover, most of its residential houses (approximately 4300) are in bad condition: 63% have major maintenance problems, 12% are in a dangerous condition, and 5% are uninhabitable (Loan, 2004). 4

Territorial diversity depends on two variables: (1) the richness or the number of territories on a sidewalk and

(2) the evenness assessing whether the territories are evenly distributed on the sidewalk or not. Because the present study is a micro-scale research, the distribution of territories on sidewalks’ spaces could be considered as equal and the number of territories might reflect the diversity.


bus and train stations. It is important to note that the term “street vendors” here refers not only to itinerant street traders, but also to local inhabitants who regularly encroach on the sidewalk to perform their activities. These people cover almost every imaginable small-scale service, including hairdressers, cooked food stalls, lottery stalls, vegetable-sellers, and tea stands. In 2009, the government went a step further in the attack on street vendors by preventing them from gathering around traditional fresh markets. To achieve the aim, the state proposed a ten-year plan to replace some core traditional fresh markets in the old district with modern supermarkets and hypermarkets. This plan intended to not only clear street vendors, but also transform the appearance of Hanoi into a “modern” capital. In addition to the early 2000s policies, at the beginning of 2016 the government carried out an experiment to homogenise advertising boards on an important street in Hanoi (Le Trong Tan Street). The aim of this practice is to introduce a coordinated urban image to be eventually applied to all streets. The dimension, position and even the colour of advertising boards are pre-determined to limit the diversity, regarded as the chaotic appearance, of street frontages. More recently, in the first quarter of 2017, the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of District 1 (Ho Chi Minh City) stated that in order to turn central Saigon into a miniature Singapore, it is crucial to restore urban order, especially on the sidewalks. This has sparked widespread interest in other main districts, not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also in Hanoi. On January 16, the Vice Chairman personally directed a 2-month campaign with the aim of fiercely removing all shops’ encroachments from the sidewalks, returning the spaces to pedestrians. In 40 days, District 1 fined nearly 1,000 cases, with a total value in fines of about 500 million VND (250,000 USD) (Phuong, 2017). Concurring with Ho Chi Minh City, the chairman of Hanoi returned to the topic of sidewalk clearance with a focus on shops’ encroaching activities. He declared that if the illegal, widespread occupancy of sidewalks remains unchanged, it will lead to frequent traffic congestion and accidents and Hanoi will always appear a messy, dirty and unorganised city, losing its image as a “civilized” capital. He further asserted: “That is the big loss, and we can no longer allow some business households to occupy the sidewalk, and let the capital go sluggish” (Long, 2017). However, there is a strong resistance in favour of street life all across urban Vietnam. In the AQ, local people still tactically occupy various parts of the sidewalks to perform diverse activities according to their needs and desires. These practices range from basic activities such as eating, cooking and washing, to relaxation and commercial practices, most of which are banned by the present policies. 2. Relationality and Territoriality matters 2.1

Actor (actant) and network in ANT


Actor-network theory (ANT) is a relevant tool to analyse how physical attributes have impacts on the formalisation, transformation and replacement of grassroots territories, because it emphasises non-human factors. Bruno Latour (2005) shows how we have separated society from nature, and thus put the role of society above nature’s materiality in knowledge construction. Demolishing this society-nature divide, Latour proposes ANT as a way to achieve a comprehensive system of knowledge: “dispersion, destruction and deconstruction are not the goals but what needs to be overcome” (2005, p.10-11). In ANT, materiality also has agency, and society is the result of the assemblage of both human and non-human elements. Moreover, ANT offers a clear approach to space, referring to regions, distance, scales and topologies (Laet & Mol, 2000; J. Law, 1999; J. Law & Mol, 2001; Mol & Law, 1994), and thus it is valuable in the field of architecture and urban design. As the name itself indicates, there are two key metaphors in ANT: network and actor (more accurately: actants). A network in social science is a fixed, stable set of relationships between nodes, and these nodes normally refer to people or actors. ANT does not accept this reductionism, which accepts that any social issue is determined by people rather than material entities (J. Law, 1992). ANT levels all distinctions between social/material entities, investigates the links between them and tries to explain the stabilisation of social phenomena in relation to this kind of network (Murdoch, 1998). As John Law (1992) argues: “The social is nothing other than patterned networks of heterogeneous materials” (p. 381). In ANT, the relationships between heterogeneous entities – not the entities themselves – are the main focus (Rydin & Tate, 2016), delineating how one element transforms its role when it joins other associations and helps sustain the network. AN theorists do not search for concentrations of power that will determine and successfully control the network. Rather, power in ANT is assumed to be relational, diffused and a consequence rather than a cause (Beauregard & Lieto, 2016; Kärrholm, 2005). Differing from sociology, the term actant in ANT covers both human and non-human involvement; non-human is no longer absent in the social sciences and humanities (Sayes, 2014). An actant might be anything considered as the cause of action in a controversy (Latour, 2005). Edwin Sayes (2014, p.136) further clarifies the term non-human as “animals, natural phenomena, tools and technical artefacts, material structures, transportation devices, texts and economic goods”. In the present paper, non-human particularly refers to tools, artefacts and physical structures appearing on the sidewalks. 2.2 A territory as a spatial actant Mattias Kärrholm (2008) argues that territories are everywhere and architecture is actually a tool to establish territorial controls. The idea of territoriality mainly divided in two approaches: human and political- geographical territoriality, has often ignored territorial materiality and merely investigated social relations behind it (Brighenti, 2010; Kärrholm, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2016; Manfredini & Rieger, 2017). Kärrholm (2005, 2007, 2008, 2016)


further borrows ANT to decode both social-physical aspects of territorial processes. For him, a territory is not seen as a static object, but rather a dynamic ANT network with complex sets of actants. We borrow the idea of Kärrholm (2007, 2016), considering territoriality as spatially delimited and effective control of a territory, and focus on territorial-power relations of everyday practices. A territory in this case is seen as a “spatial actant”, a host of a certain network, which is continuously produced and reproduced to remain effective (p. 440). The interrelations among sidewalk actors lie beneath the system of territories. Understanding how territories are formed, transformed, and then replaced, might help to disentangle clusters of social and spatial relationality. 3. The production of grassroots territories 3.1 Territorial materialities Fleeting territories / mapping transitions on the sidewalk Drawing upon a preliminary study conducted in 2015 (Manfredini & Ta, 2016), this paper discusses an in-depth analysis on a representative AQ area. It scrutinises a small group of people who conduct their daily activities on a part of Gia Ngu sidewalk, deciphering how material elements might help them to negotiate with each other and define their territories. Gia Ngu Street was chosen as it is one of the twenty that retain the most traditional, historical, structural and social features of the AQ. Moreover, the street is included in redevelopment plans actuating the above-mentioned governance policies. The researcher conducted twelve 2 hour-observations as a pure observer in May, 2017, covering three days (two week days and one weekend day) at different times (morning (:6:00-7:00), afternoon (17:00-18:00) and evening (20:00-21:00). Visual methods including videos, photos, sketches, and annotations were used to record the physical settings of the sidewalk and the material tools and artefacts that different actors use to back up their territorial structures. The characteristics of these spatial components and physical objects were also noted. This information provided clues to interpret how these elements might generate and sustain repetitive territories. After each period of observation, the actors’ territories will be marked onto a plan of the study streets in AutoCAD. Particularly, different graphic signs (dots, squares in various sizes and colours) will be used to represent people’s occupied space. It is important to note that Vietnamese people normally consider the front sidewalk as legitimate extensions of their store, as this habit has lasted for a long time. Indeed, in the past, the ancient district had no pavement, and houses usually had an extra, pop-up, part in front of the frontage to exhibit goods to save inner housing spaces for storage, manufacturing processes and domestic activities. As such, in most of the cases, when parts of the sidewalk are empty, they should be represented as relevant shop owners’ territories. The results show that there were four main actors contributing to grassroots territories.


They were owners of fish-sauce, handicraft and barber stores and an “inner-resident” selling pickles (Figure 1). The term “inner-resident” refers to people living inside the block, in units behind the stores and not facing the streets. There are many small passages at the side of the front house, providing inner residents with access to the street. This is also the place that inner-inhabitants habitually go to conduct their domestic and business activities. Since the passage is not a private space, it is also an ideal storage area, where all the surrounding neighbours can store their possessions. These cover a wide range, including stools, folding tables, hooks and tents. This seemingly invisible space hides a loose structure that local residents use to make use of the outer sidewalk space, creating a much-needed public realm. Hanoians are in the habit of getting up early, exercising on the streets and buying food on the way back home, and the fish-sauce store and the pickle seller were the first business operators in the early morning. At this time, the two neighbouring shops were still inavtive. The sidewalk was empty, and the fish-sauce store and the inner-resident were the main owners of the sidewalk. There seemed to be a close relationship between the two actors, possibly because pickles and fish-sauce normally go together in Vietnamese cuisine. When there was no conflict or dispute over the use of the sidewalk space, all the utensils of the two actors were arbitrarily laid out. With a sturdy awning that stretched out enough to cover the width of the sidewalk, it was obvious that the owner of the fish-sauce stall intended to spread its contents as much as it could. The store had a small, very low doorstep, a half of which was not painted or tiled, but rather left blank with the colour of the cement. This created the feeling that the doorstep was a part of the sidewalk rather than separated from it. From the street, there is no visible door marking the boundary between interior and exterior spaces. All these factors aim to blur the distinction between public and private space, implying the right to use the sidewalk. Added to that, the inner-resident had a perfect system of hooks and shelves mounted on a wall façade to display different kinds of pickle bottles, jars, pots, basins and baskets. This wall was a part of the fish-sauce store’s frontage, next to the mutual passage space. In the morning, the inner-resident randomly scattered her light and movable items around the front sidewalk, attracting people going by and preventing itinerant street vendors’ occupancy. When the barber and the handicraft store opened, there was a change in the sidewalk territories. The fish-sauce and pickle stalls normally emit unpleasant smells that might drive away customers of the two adjacent stores, and this causes a latent controversy surrounding the use of the sidewalk. Particularly, the two stores next door intended to delimit the fishsauce and inner-resident’s territories. They wanted to hinder those actors’ efforts to intrude onto their front sidewalk spaces, keeping their sidewalk clear, clean and for their customers’ parking only. As a response, the fish-sauce store narrowed its occupancy within its front


sidewalk and left a part of the space for the pickle seller to inhabit. Many physical objects that had been spilled out in the morning were now tucked away and hidden inside the mutual passage. The pickle seller, in turn, neatly arranged her pots and baskets in front of the passage, waiting for the evening when the barber and handicraft store would be closed. The barber and the handicraft store had different ways of responding to sidewalk occupancy. In the case of the barber, it had a two-step threshold in a prominent red color, combined with a shiny glass door, to provide a contrast between the neat, well organised and professional space inside and the messy, diffused and unpleasant space out on the sidewalk. The handicraft store had an advantage in being situated at the beginning of the street, and thus it had two frontages. As such, its aim was not to open to the obnoxious and disordered sidewalk, but to one on the other street. As observed from the Gia Ngu frontage, the handicraft store hung its products in a way that almost filled the whole façade, leaving no space to access. From the other side, the shop was totally open, and freely encroached onto the sidewalk.

Figure 1 (left): Pavement as extension of the private space. Appropriation of sidewalks has a long tradition in Vietnam and when they are not activated, they are recognised as shop owners’ territories. From left to right: Barber store, Inner-resident (with pickle shelves and baskets), fish-sauce and handicraft stores. Figure 2 (right): In the early morning, when the barber and handicraft store were still inactive. The sidewalk was mainly occupied by the inner-residents and the fish-sauce shop owner. In order to clarify the boundaries, the store owners took advantage of the government's permission to park motorbikes and bicycles on the front sidewalk, and used these vehicles to mark their distinct territories. Vehicles were usually arranged either opposite the joint wall of the two adjacent stores, or in front of the mutual passage. Leaving the vehicles there was


useful, not only to make clear the territorial limits, but also to push pedestrians out onto the street as the length of the vehicles was almost equal to the sidewalk’s width. The parking area varied during the day depending on the number of customers’ vehicles; however, spaces between the vehicles were not wasted. Rather they turned out to be shared spaces for all the store owners and inner-residents to store and hide tools and artefacts such as buckets, pots, chairs, brooms and towels. The barber and the handicraft store closed in the late afternoon, leaving the sidewalk for the fish-sauce and pickle sellers until midnight. At this time, all the physical items hidden in the passage since the morning were used. All these materials were pop-up parts of the street’s frontage, not only bringing economic value for the locals and preserving the whole atmosphere of cultural business (traditional commercial activities, traditional customs, vernacular knowledge and experience in business), but also improving social interaction.

Figure 3 (left): During the day, when all stores are active, motorbikes occupy important territories. Figure 5 (right): When the barber and the handicraft were about to close, the sidewalk was gradually left for the fish-sauce owner and the pickle seller. 4. Conclusion Focusing the formalisation of grassroots territories on the AQ sidewalk, this study discusses the condition of a unique space of resistance that challenges the pervading neoliberal globalisation process and proposes a first interpretation of the phenomenon. The paper, on the one hand, provides a description to understand how local inhabitants appropriate sidewalk spaces according to their needs and demands. On the other hand, by investigating the grassroots territories, it suggests a way to assess urban diversity and inclusion, hypothesizing that the more grassroots territories are formed, the more inclusive the sidewalks become. The production of territories not only stands for the number of people with their varieties of activities, but also represents the richness of social and spatial


networks. The primary objective is to contribute to the research on “micro” aspects of the environment stimulating a better understanding of specificities of Asian urbanism.

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