Preserving and Promoting the Marine Cultural Landscape of Hoi An
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Abstract
Hoi An’s coastal environment has long shaped distinctive patterns of settlement, livelihoods, heritage, and cultural practices, forming a dynamic maritime cultural landscape. However, increasing environmental and socioeconomic changes are transforming both its physical characteristics and the cultural practices associated with the sea. This study examines Hoi An’s maritime cultural landscape as an interconnected system shaped by the interaction between coastal environments, communities, livelihoods, heritage, and maritime cultural practices. Specifically, it identifies the principal components and values of the landscape, examines the major changes and challenges affecting its preservation, and develops management directions for sustaining and promoting its values. A qualitative research design was adopted, combining field surveys, direct observation, documentary analysis, and semi-structured exchanges with local residents involved in fishing, seafood-related activities, and other marine-dependent livelihoods. The data were thematically classified and interpreted through cross-referencing field evidence with documentary sources. The findings reveal that Hoi An’s maritime cultural landscape comprises interconnected natural, residential, livelihood, community, tangible heritage, and intangible cultural components, reflecting the city’s long-standing maritime history. Nevertheless, coastal erosion, environmental change, transformations in settlement and livelihood patterns, tourism-oriented coastal development, and declining community engagement in some maritime cultural practices are increasingly disrupting these relationships. The study therefore argues that conservation should move beyond the protection of individual heritage assets toward an integrated landscape approach that connects environmental management, heritage conservation, livelihood continuity, cultural revitalization, and community participation. Such an approach can strengthen the resilience and cultural continuity of Hoi An’s maritime landscape while creating opportunities for heritage-based tourism and sustainable local development.
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References
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