Knowing into oblivion: Clearing wastelands and imagining emptiness in V ietnamese N ew U rban Z ones

Abstract

Lands cleared for Vietnamese New Urban Zones are commonly described as ‘wastelands’ (đất hoang) in need of development. But clearing these lands in Vietnam's densely populated urban areas requires evicting large numbers of urban residents. How is it possible to render populated spaces as empty wastelands? This paper juxtaposes new ethnographic research in Ho Chi Minh City against historical scholarship on Vietnamese concepts of ‘clearing the wasteland’ and colonial civilizing projects of mise en valeur. In doing so, the article describes these concepts as parallel legitimizing strategies that effectively enable developers and planners to render previously occupied and utilized lands as empty, uninhabited wastelands. The article shows that the same narrative structure used in these earlier contexts is used to justify current urban development projects.

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