[S01.5] Non-religious Spiritual space for social cohesion in Vietnam
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4.2.2 The laneway (con hẻm) in the Vietnam urban areas.
Since the end of the nineteenth century, the role of the village has become less and less important in the social structure, the massive population movement from village to city during and after wartime has placed a huge burden on the housing issue in urban cities. For this cause, public space has been subdued to the secondary concern in urban planning. Consequently, changing use of social space among urbanites has been recorded in the shape of the space “between” within the busy residential area such as laneway (hẻm) (Earl 2010). The flexibility in its function, shifting from public to private, from day to night delineate its “informal” quality.
Laneway is a narrow space or a connecting pathway in some cases between two buildings which is usually utilized as a platform for small family businesses and neighbourhood gathering. It is public in regard to openness but private in the use of the inhabitants. Despite the limited dimensions, this is the place where news and gossip are spread out as well as socializing activities are taken place in a variety of levels and forms. It is said that the image of each laneway can reflect the character of each neighbourhood to a certain extent, giving a glimpse at the daily life of the urbanites.
In general, the informal social space encouraged the social interaction and communication between independent individuals beyond the state control or suppression within the social frame. Hence, the structure of collective memory built up from such spaces is bottom-up, reflect both individual and communal quality within a social setting. It also explains the main drive of collective memory in Vietnamese society stemmed from a personal desire to be inclusive in their own community (village or neighbourhood) and this string gives them a strong sense of belonging.
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