The current state of residential architecture of Ethnic minorities in Northern mountainous Vietnam and Sustainable development orientations

Abstract

The Northern Mountainous Region holds a strategic position in national security and defense while also offering vast potential for economic growth and cultural tourism. It is home to 29 ethnic minority groups, each with a rich and diverse tradition of housing architecture that embodies significant indigenous cultural values. However, under the pressure of urbanization and modern living demands, traditional housing architecture is gradually disappearing, replaced by newly constructed houses built haphazardly, lacking any distinct ethnic cultural identity. This paper focuses on studying the architectural values of traditional houses, the current state of both traditional and newly built housing. Based on these findings, it proposes sustainable development directions for ethnic minority housing in the Northern Mountainous Region, including the preservation of traditional houses, spatial restructuring of villages, improvement of house surroundings, promotion of cultural heritage values, and prioritizing the use of sustainable materials in the construction of new housing.

Keywords: Housing architecture for ethnic minorities; traditional housing in the northern mountainous region; traditional architectural values; preservation of traditional architecture; sustainable housing development.