Fall Planning Workshop: “Livable Cities” A Case Study: Quy Nhon, Vietnam Instructor: Andrea Kahn Topographic Survey Quy Nhon, Mastterplan In conjunction with the Universities of Hawaii and North Carolina, Columbia has been invited to participate in a project to explore sustainable planning strategies in Quy Nhon, Vietnam. The work, partially funded by a Ford Foundation grant aimed at strengthening planning infrastructure statewide, will build on economic and community planning research by the other participating institutions. Columbia students will focus on spatial planning issues, to devise recommendations for use by local and state planners committed to creating “modern” and “civilized” cities. In April 2010, Viet Nam’s Prime Minister recognized Quy Nhon, capital of Binh Dinh, Viet Nam, as a 1st grade city at the provincial level, identifying it as a site for state‐supported growth and development. Located on Viet Nam’s south central coast, Quy Nhon (pop. 300,000) lies 30 minutes north of Ho Chi Min City and 2.5 hours south of Hanoi, by air. Its sea port, an important national asset, boasts good water‐based freight connections to Cambodia. Local industries include agriculture, aquaculture, boatbuilding, craft production, and beach‐based tourism. In 2008, a state‐sponsored master‐plan identified zones for residential, recreational and industrial growth in Quy Nhon, but paid scant attention to ecological assets. Adopting the lens of sustainable planning practice as a critical tool to assess normative planning processes, the Vietnam workshop will generate two “Future Growth Scenarios”, each based on its own sustainable planning model and produced by a separate “planning team”. Presenting alternatives lets the local planning community rehearse the process of evaluating land‐use, zoning and physical planning options (a Ford Foundation goal); and the process of exploring options distinguishes the workshop from a conventional planning studio by eliciting dialogue between working groups on the ‘problem‐framing’ (rather than problem solving) aspects of planning. The workshop will be organized around three lines of investigation: i. Devising sustainable planning principles (How do you apply ‘best practices’ to maximize local ecological resources?) ii. Engaging multiple frames of reference (How do you make highest and best use of prior planning efforts?) iii. Structuring collaborative planning practices (How do you optimize diverse inputs and benefit from teamwork?) Fall Planning Workshop: “Livable Cities” A Case Study: Quy Nhon, Vietnam Instructor: Andrea Kahn Drawing on current thinking in landscape, regional planning and environmental design, participants will develop customized approaches to ecological planning that optimize existing site opportunities (cf. www.greenvillagechallenge.org). We will begin by assessing prior planning efforts; learning about sustainable urban planning methods; and researching current site conditions in preparation for a week‐long visit to Viet Nam, early October. Upon returning, the group will synthesize findings, and then finalize project management plans and schedules and begin work on mappings and diagramming the two growth scenarios. To maximize knowledge‐
creation at all levels (cross‐cultural, intra‐disciplinary and in‐house) the workshop will emphasize clear communication protocols at every stage. Workshop deliverables will include a presentation (one per team/scenario) to be delivered, publically in class and then incorporated into a formal, 20 page report, including precedent studies, mappings, diagrams and additional visioning tools, and a narrative explanation describing and comparing the alternative “Growth Scenarios” ( for delivery to the client). Application to Participate: The workshop is open only to 2nd‐year students and enrollment will be limited to 8 students. Students must apply to Andrea Kahn (ak49@columbia.edu) by July 12th indicating (1) why they wish to take the workshop and (2) what skills they would bring. The decision regarding who will be included will be made by July 23. Preference will be given to students with design backgrounds and those who have not previously taken a foreign‐travel studio. The costs of travel and accommodation (estimated at between $1,500 and $2,000) will be covered by the Ford Foundation grant but students will have to first incur the expenses and then be reimbursed. Fall Planning Workshop: “Livable Cities” A Case Study: Quy Nhon, Vietnam Instructor: Andrea Kahn Preliminary Schedule Wk 1 Introduction: The Site, the Challenge and the Goals. Wk 2 Research Presentations: Site Conditions, Development Opportunities and Livable Cities Wk 3 Devising Sustainable Planning Principles (Naomi Darling, Yale University) Wk 4 Structuring Collaborative Practices (Jeffrey Raven, Louis Berger Group, NYC) Wk 5 Site Visit Preparation: Draft Preliminary Planning Scenarios Wk 6 SITE VISIT: Quy Nhon and Hanoi, Viet NAM (10/8 ‐10‐17) Wk 7 Debrief: Site Assets and Opportunities (Philip Giang, PacificXanh) Wk 8 Sustainable Planning Principles, Applied Wk 9 Draft Future Growth Scenario (Zoning, Land Use, Eco‐Services) Wk 10 Scenario Development Wk 11 Present: Future Growth Scenarios (Phu Duong, NBBJ; Naomi Darling, Jeffrey Raven) Wk 12 Scenario development Wk 13 In‐class presentations Wk 14 Final Report Due Preliminary Reading List D. Biggs, Quagmire: Nation Building and Nature in the Mekong Delta P. Condon, Sustainable Urban Landscapes: Site Design Manual For BC Communities The Design Center for Sustainability at UBC, Sustainability by Design W. Dramstad, J. Olson, and R. Forman, Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land‐Use Planning R. Jongman and G. Rungetti, Ecological Networks and Greenways: Concept, Design and Implementation D. Radovic (editor) Eco‐urbanity Proposed Strategic Economic Plan for the City of Quy Nhon: Report prepared for the City of Quy Nhon by 3rd Rock Development and the Practicum Team from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Department of Urban and Regional Planning Landscape Urbanism to Respond to Climate Change: Cantho, Vietnam: Design Research Report prepared for the City of Cantho, Vietnam, by the Catholic University of Leuven Fall Planning Workshop: “Livable Cities” A Case Study: Quy Nhon, Vietnam Instructor: Andrea Kahn Preliminary Course Schedule