Hue is still green in the late autumn
The jade green Huong covered with silky smoke
The green leaves surround the Ngu Mount
Hue is green despite the yellow autumn atmosphere
(From the green alley of Hue)
Like the neighboring villages and wards, Hue is a world of garden houses. Seasonal fruit trees are grown in large areas while beds of mustards or herbals are grown in the narrow ones. Even when there is no extra land, people grow seasonal bonsai in pots.
A city of green trees. Photo: Thanh Toan
Therefore, a writer ever nicknamed Hue as “the city of green autumn” and Hue culture is rooted with the garden culture.
Those who often visit places in Vietnam often have a comparison between Hue and others. There have been many cities either regenerated or lost for the past few decades due to the modern designs and constructions, which replaced the original characteristics of a locality.
Hue is still artless compared to other cities and provinces!
The criteria for a green area or city used to depend on the percentage of green trees covering its area. For example, Singapore has been considered as the world greenest city that has 47% of the area, including gardens, parks, streets and other public places, covered with green trees.
Several writing and painting contests for children that address the theme of “the future green city” have been organized lately. Through the painting and writing entries, the image of a future city is none other than a green fresh city with trees, parks, rivers and mountains.
The concept of “green” in a future green city from the public view, especially the view of young people, is associated with a world of green trees. However, the conventions for “a green city” today are based on a series of criteria.
Fundamental criteria for a green city have been proposed and discussed in many conferences for the past ten years. There are, indeed, many criteria. Nonetheless, Hue is not far to satisfy most of these. The criteria for a green city can be summarized as follows:
The scale of and plan for the city construction need accurate, general and transparent planning and calculation, ensuring the appropriateness to the long-term development.
Water supply and equipment must be sufficient for everyone and efficient to save water for people, livestock and trees.
There must be harmonious and reasonable planning for bonsai, agricultural and industrial plants.
There is a widespread public mobilization to make the most of the ability to collect recycled materials such as paper, aluminum cans and bottles.
How the regulations and measures to reduce environmental pollution are effectively implemented.
Among these criteria, green trees, water sources and pollution reduction are given priorities.
Based on the prioritized modern criteria, it is likely that Hue becomes a typical green city of the country and the green community of the world. This is due to the wildness of many places in Hue, and people are striving for a typical green city of the country.
If a future city is built three to five times larger than it is now in the next few decades, Hue will be bordered with Truong Son range to the west, the Nam Hai to the east, Lang Co – Hai van to the south, and Tam Giang Lagoon to the north, as well as become the North-South gateway to the trans-Vietnam route.
After my spring trips to many places home and abroad last year, I wrote in my article Tet Season: “Upon my return to Hue from visits to well-known tourism destinations in Vietnam and neighboring countries, I kept this in my diary that ‘wherever I go in the country or in the world, I still find Hue so beautiful with its quietness and freshness. It is like the sleeping beauty on the green grass. Hue, still, won’t sleep longer when dynamic generations of 4-5G are making considerable changes. Hue will still be Hue, but of rapid and intensive developments and of greener atmosphere facing the challenges of environment pollution that concerns the whole mankind.’”
It is factual that the two main rivers, Huong and Bo, and other flows from Truong Son source to the East Sea, have made a splendid scenery for several construction works. For centuries, Paris has needed only the Seine, and London the Thames; now Hue can have the opportunity and favorable conditions to become a leading center of culture and tourism, iff it is given appropriate investment and development plan from the government and individuals.
The world is facing the global warming and climate change. Many countries are having policies to minimize the global warming and many smoke-gray cities are rising as green cities.
Hue, like many other cities in Vietnam, has not been as polluted as smoke-gray cities, and thus it has certain advantages to develop while building a green city naturally, but consciously as well.
Hopefully, Hue will be naturally green for a long time as a result of the preservation of traditions and the applications of science and technology, rather than being green due to superficial decoration.
We are looking forward to a typical green Hue City in future!
By Tran Kiem Doan