The Hoan Kiem Ward People's Committee on October 8 broke ground on a project to build a cultural industry centre at 17 Nguyen Thien Thuat Street and 40 Thanh Ha Street, laying the foundations for the Dong Xuan-Bac Qua Cultural Industry Centre.
The project is part of Hanoi's efforts to develop its cultural industries while making better use of local resources and promoting the historical and cultural values of the Dong Xuan-Bac Qua area.
It will link heritage conservation with creativity, commerce, tourism and urban economic development.
Hoan Kiem Ward expects the project to be completed by April 30-May 1, 2027.
Under the plan, the centre will occupy the two sites at 17 Nguyen Thien Thuat and 40 Thanh Ha, covering a combined area of about 3,862 square metres. The total construction area will exceed 2,300 square metres, with a building density of about 60 per cent.
A rendering of the exhibition area (Photo: Hoan Kiem Ward).
The centre is planned as a multifunctional cultural industry hub, combining creative spaces with areas for displays, exhibitions, performances, education, cultural experiences and cultural commerce, as well as support for creative start-ups.
It will also strengthen links between culture, tourism, commerce and local communities in Hanoi's Old Quarter.
Trinh Hoang Tung, chairman of the Hoan Kiem Ward People's Committee, said the groundbreaking, held to coincide with the 72nd anniversary of the Liberation of Hanoi, would help create a new cultural and creative space in the heart of the Old Quarter.
The project would provide a place where heritage values could be preserved, passed on and promoted through approaches suited to contemporary life, he said.
Dong Xuan-Bac Qua is a distinctive part of Hanoi's Old Quarter, with a long tradition of commerce and layers of historical, cultural and architectural values, as well as a rich urban way of life, Tung said.
“We hope the project will go beyond renovating two buildings. It will create a space with different but interconnected and complementary functions, gradually establishing a new cultural and creative destination in the heart of the Old Quarter, a cultural space with a life of its own,” Tung said.