Hanoi at the Forefront of Cultural Development
According to the presentation titled “Achievements in the Struggle, Construction, and Development of Hanoi with the Role and Position of the Capital” by the Hanoi People’s Committee at the scientific workshop “95 Years of the Establishment of the Hanoi Party Committee – Scope and Historical Significance (March 17, 1930 – March 17, 2025),” Hanoi is the largest cultural and artistic center in the country and a locality that has always been pioneering and leading in cultural development.
Throughout its history, Thang Long – Hanoi has been directly and strongly influenced by the cultural space of four sub-regions: Bac, Doai, Dong, and Son Nam Thuong. Today, Hanoi has inherited, preserved, and assimilated the cultures of these sub-regions while simultaneously absorbing external cultural elements to develop into a civilized and modern city.
Hanoi has always been at the forefront, leading in cultural development. Photo: Pham Hung
This has enabled Hanoi to accumulate and disseminate culture and civilization. It is both a land that preserves a vast cultural heritage of the nation and a city that absorbs the finest cultural and civilized values of humanity, thereby contributing to national, regional, and global development. Hanoi has 5,922 cataloged relics, of which 2,668 are classified (accounting for about one-third of all classified relics nationwide).
Among them, there is 1 world heritage site; 2 documentary world heritages; 21 special national relics; 1,163 relics/complexes classified at the national level (accounting for a quarter of all nationally classified relics); 1,484 relics/complexes classified at the city level. Hanoi has 3,507 intangible cultural heritage items, representing 5.32% of the country and 76.16% of the Red River Delta. The city holds the UNESCO “Creative City” title, 32 intangible cultural heritage items in the national intangible cultural heritage list; 2 documentary world heritages recognized by UNESCO; 4 intangible cultural heritage items recognized by UNESCO, including 3 representative intangible cultural heritages of humanity.
Additionally, Hanoi has 1,350 craft villages and preserves 1,661 folk festivals. The capital’s cuisine is distinctive and attractive, a source of pride for the people of Hanoi and the Vietnamese nation. Few capitals in the world converge traditional culture, long-standing educational history, diverse religions and rituals, traditional craft villages, and folk performing arts as Hanoi does.
Hanoi has consistently and creatively applied the Party’s viewpoints and policies on cultural development and human development suitable to the capital’s conditions. After liberation, Hanoi had only one library with 90,000 books; by 1965, there were 8 libraries with 177,000 books. From 19 cinema and art teams in 1955, by 1965 Hanoi had 31 cultural and artistic teams serving a large number of citizens.
Hanoi Flag Tower and Thang Long Imperial Citadel seen from above. Photo: Pham Hung
During each development stage, Hanoi has added cultural facilities. In the post-liberation period, during the restoration and renovation period (1954–1960), Hanoi introduced 6 new public facilities and 8 cultural and educational works; in 1961–1965, the city completed and put into use 30 public and community facilities. After 1975, Hanoi focused on cultural development and improving the spiritual life of residents. Large projects completed include Thu Le Park and the Youth Cultural Palace (now Children’s Cultural Palace).
Currently, Hanoi leads the country in the number of museum facilities (49 public, 19 private), libraries (1 National Library, nearly 200 university libraries, 1,085 libraries managed by Hanoi with 620,101 thousand volumes), theaters (23 professional art theaters under Ministries and agencies, accounting for 94% of national performance facilities, plus 6 theaters managed by Hanoi), exhibition centers, cinemas, digital cultural heritage and art databases, cultural centers, creative cultural spaces, and entertainment and art areas…
Comprehensive Development of Cultural Industries
The presentation also highlighted that Hanoi’s cultural and artistic activities are highly dynamic, including numerous regional and international cultural events. These serve as a significant resource for improving citizens’ spiritual life and contributing to the development of cultural industries.
In 2019, Hanoi was honored as a member of the UNESCO “Creative Cities Network,” aiming to leverage cultural and creative resources as a foundation for sustainable capital development. Emerging factors and new contexts in the digital era and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have created opportunities for Hanoi to mobilize cultural values and resources effectively.
In recent years, Hanoi has been determined to comprehensively develop cultural industries in terms of scale, product quality, services, and market, ensuring sustainable growth and making it a key economic sector.
Hanoi has received numerous prestigious international awards, including “Top Asian City Destination,” “World’s Best Golf City Destination 2024” from the World Travel Awards; listed among “100 Most Attractive City Destinations in the World 2024” by Euromonitor International; “Top Cultural Destination in Vietnam 2024”; “Leading City Tourism Management Agency in the World 2024”; “Top Asian City Destination 2024”; and “Top Asian Short-Break City Destination 2024” awarded consecutively in 2022, 2023, 2024 by the World Travel Awards.
Hanoi possesses a comprehensive cultural institutional system. The Politburo issued three resolutions on “Orientations and Tasks for Capital Development” for 2001–2010, 2011–2020, and 2021–2025, consistently emphasizing culture. Notably, Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW dated May 5, 2022, is especially significant for capital construction and development, affirming that “Culture and people are both the goal and the foundation, resource, and driving force for capital development” and setting the requirement to “Focus on developing Hanoi’s culture worthy of Thang Long – Hanoi’s thousand-year tradition; build Hanoi as a center for convergence and culmination of the country’s culture, becoming a new development resource for the capital.” Hanoi was the first locality in the country to issue a specialized resolution on developing cultural industries.
Importantly, based on Article 11 of the 2012 Law on the Capital, the 2024 Law on the Capital introduces new special mechanisms for developing Hanoi’s culture. These legal foundations are crucial for establishing Hanoi as a hub of cultural convergence, creating a civilized, elegant, and culturally representative environment reflecting national identity and thousand-year cultural traditions.
Hanoi is the nation’s capital and the political, economic, cultural, and diplomatic center, with one of the largest urban populations, a notable intellectual and artistic community, and the seat of central agencies. Daily developments in Hanoi are closely monitored by central authorities.
Words of encouragement or warnings, sometimes occurring daily or even hourly, unlike in other localities. As some jokingly say, “Hanoi is close to the sun,” meaning it’s warm year-round; in reality, this is a significant advantage for the city.
During 1991–2000, as Hanoi continued industrialization and modernization according to the 11th Congress of the City Party Committee, the capital had to continuously improve itself to meet high demands.
Success or failure in work largely depends on the cadres. This requires each cadre to have a plan for regularly improving their theoretical and practical competence. On the other hand, the Party Committee has plans to send cadres to receive training at Central and local Party Schools to enhance their qualifications.
The Hanoi Party Committee also assigned the Organization Committee of the Party Committee to organize specialized training courses.
In selecting cadres for key positions, there are cases that require foresight, early identification, and subsequent training. This was the case for a district in the city that needed a qualified Chairman of the District People’s Committee. Many opinions were proposed from different perspectives…
However, an important criterion is the leadership and management capacity of the cadre… In practice, with the leadership and management of the comrade and the assistance and support of the Party Committee, the district has made many advances in the process of building new rural areas.
Prof. Le Xuan Tung, Former Secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee
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