The Hanoi’s "City for Peace" award from UNESCO in 1999 reminds every one to the old saying: "Thang Long (old name of Hanoi city) is a non-battlefield". However, Thang Long has become a battle with national historical marks.
King Quang Trung fighted with Thanh force in 1789, the suicide battle in Hanoi began 9 years of resistance war against France in 1946, "Dien Bien Phu" victory against the US air force in 12 days in 1972 were a condition for Thang Long to become a non-battlefield, an old message signaling Hanoi today as a land of peace.

Hanoi has a history of more than 1000 years, the typical architecture of each stage is mixed on each street. The market of ancient Ke Cho interspersed with the Chinese city, following is the French architecture, then the collective architecture of the former Soviet Union and modern architecture.
These architectures are milestones of the time recording the fluctuations, ups and downs of Hanoi. A World Bank's chief economists in Vietnam, Mr. Martin Rama can also feel this. In 8 years living in Hanoi, after working time, he passionately learn about architecture in Hanoi associated with the ups and downs of history. He followed the streets of Hanoi to diligently record the architectural landscapes of each period and put them together into a very valuable book. It took him more than a year to name this book. From "impression of Hanoi architecture" or "Hanoi with the time" ... and finally he chose the name "Hanoi- an enjoyable place". This is a play of Hanoi along the time...

Hanoi is different from most other cities in the world thanks to its ancient culture beauty hidden under the green trees. Urban life is shaped by connecting communities, villages, societies and families. The traditional communities on the basis of village culture has helped Hanoi stand firmly over time. Small alleys, narrow streets, meshes with moss are the soul of Hanoi, making Hanoi a unique city. These particular features are source of the artists feelings, enabling the beauty of Hanoi remains forever with the time in the literature, music and painting.
The beauty of Hanoi is hidden on every street corner, under each roof, after each familiar tree, not ostentatious with massive architectural. Hanoi beauty can be like the sexy lines of the girl's body hidden under the long dress. That dress is the green covering the old town.
Mordern life is demanding Hanoi to develop. But first of all, it is necessary to keep the green of ancient moss layers associated with the traditional culture, green trees on typical streets of Hanoi. In addition, we need to add the blue of the water and sky. Hanoi needs to develop in a truly natural setting. Every person living in Hanoi needs to be aware of normal activities to put Hanoi in the context of green development. The concept of planning has shown this, but to implement, it should be paid attendtion to the right approach of managers and then the sense of community of each resident.
In the development of construction, let think of the synergy between work and culture development. Each new work must contain image of the typical Hanoi street. To this end, culture must remain at the center of planning.
The Hanoi community today has includes hundreds of million people, becoming one of the most populous cities in the world. As a rule of nature, the influx of migrants into Hanoi is increasing. Mixed human personality, regional culture is both a strength and weakness in the development process. In urban areas, community links are always weak, but Hanoi always has the traditional strengths of community linkages.
I interviewed many people about Hanoi including the original Hanoians, people from other provinces to Hanoi, foreigners to travel in Hanoi and long-time foreigners in Hanoi. A very interesting and noteworthy result is that most of the long-time foreigners in Hanoi have the deepest remarks about the cultural spirit of Hanoi, they are really impressed with the own characteristics of Hanoi.