Hue city has 36 commune-level administrative units including 29 wards and 7 communes, the area of 266,46 km2 and population of 496.743 habitants (according to Thua Thien Hue Statistical Yearbook 2023). The city borders with Huong Tra town, Quang Dien district, Huong Thuy town, Phu Vang district and the East Sea. Hue city is the first-class provincially-managed city recognized in Vietnam (2005).
According to Thua Thien Hue Statistical Yearbook 2023, Hue had the total area of 266,46km2 and population of 496.743. Its geographical position enables the province to promote socio-economic development, become one of the economic center in Central region and Vietnam.
The south of Hue city (Photo: internet)
Hue is the first city recognized as national green city by WWF in 2016, honored as "ASEAN green city" in 2014 and ASEAN green tourism city in 2018. Located in the center of Vietnam, the north-south axis and the east-west corridor, Hue is accessible by air, sea, road and rail. From Hue city, it is very easy to travel to country-wide localities and world-wide countries. In addition, the city has diverse natural condition and eco-system, creating a beautiful space. Hue and areas situated by the East Sea is convenient for tourism, resorts and water sports.
Hue is also one of the destinations within Phong Nha - Ke Bang - Hue - Bach Ma - Canh Duong - Lang Co - Da Nang - Hoi An tourism cluster. The city is considered as one of the four national tourism centers as well as the center of the Central Heritage Road - Ho Chi Minh Road. Thanks to local transport system, Hue is capable of introducing domestic or international tours and becoming a major international tourism center.
Hue Citadel (Photo: internet)
Hue city is one of the 5 national urban centers included in Vietnam urban master plan, one of the centers for high quality multi-sectoral training in Central region and across Vietnam. It is also a vital science and technology center in Central Vietnam (literature, art, medicine, etc) and the intensive health care center of the Central Vietnam.
The city has established the relation with localities, organizations (Association Internationale des Maires Francophones - AIMF, CITYNET, Organization of World Heritage Cities - OWHC, the League of Historical Cities - LHC, the Alliance of Healthy Cities - AHC, etc) and foreign cities (Newhaven, Honolulu - the USA; Rennes, Blois, Nord Pas de Calais - France; Shizuoka, Kyoto, Takayama - Japan; Gyeongju - South Korea, etc).
The biggest advantage of Hue city and the neighbor areas are natural condition and diverse eco-system (hill, river, delta, lagoon and sea), creating an appealing natural-urban space where discovery travel and resorts are introduced.
Thanks to these above-mentioned strengths, Hue city has great advantages in socio-economic development and attracts far and near tourists.
Tu Duc tomb (Photo: internet)
In terms of culture and history, there are 5 UNESCO-recognized heritages in Hue namely, Hue Monuments Complex (1993), Hue Court Music (2003), woodblocks of Nguyen dynasty (2009), records of Nguyen dynasty under Nguyen dynasty (2014) and literature system on Hue royal architecture. Besides, Hue ancient capital is also home to 02 jointly-owned intangible heritages i.e. Choi singing (2017) and the worship of Mother Goddesses (2016). It can be said that Hue city is the locality with enormous potentials in Central Vietnam and Vietnam. Hue architecture complex brings together natural scenery, national tangible and intangible cultural values. There are a wide range of royal and traditional architectures available in Hue city and the adjacent areas, for example, tombs, residences, traditional garden houses, pagoda, cultural values related to the ancient capital and Thuan Hoa - Phu Xuan people. Hue royal structures, tombs, pagodas, ancient towns, garden houses and so on are typical architectures of Vietnamese and oriental culture over the periods. Hue Imperial City represents for the viewpoint on human life, architecture, fine arts, the lifestyle of upper class and intellectuals in the 19th century. It is a model of the combination between nature and urban architecture in the world.
Hue city is dense with relics. There are up to 6 relics within 1 km2 only. The majority of these relics are located in city center, facilitating tourists during discovering the beautiful cultural city. In addition to local cultural heritages, Hue city is not too far from other world natural and cultural heritages (Phong Nha - Ke Bang, Hoi An ancient town, My Son tower and shrine, etc), famous places of interest and resorts (Bach Ma national forest, Thuan An beach, Canh Duong - Lang Co beach, etc). Hue is an ideal destination for travelling, researching, studying, discovering, resorts and sport, etc.
Thien Mu pagoda (Photo: internet)
Also, it is a center for culture and art of the Central Vietnam. Selected as the capital of Vietnam during nearly 2 centuries, Hue today is still home to many tangible, intangible, traditional and folk cultural resources. This ancient capital is a featured cultural region of the Central Vietnam and the representative of Vietnamese culture. It is the place where domestic and foreign cultures Dong Son - Sa Huynh culture, cultural identities of ethnic groups such as Viet, Cham, Chinese, French, etc harmoniously combined.
Hue city is home to many intangible cultural resources of Phu Xuan - Thuan Hoa cultural region and the Central Vietnam, for instance, Hue singing, Hue classical opera, Hue royal singing and dance, traditional and royal festivals. Hue costume and cuisine enjoy its reputation in Vietnam and the world.
Through cultural activities and Hue Festival, a prestigious event in Vietnam and foreign countries, Hue was known as a famous festival city.
There are thousands of folk and royal dishes in Hue, creating a unique and diverse culinary space reflecting the history and culture of the ancient capital. According to statistics, there are up to 1.700 dishes of 3.000 dishes of all types are cooked in Hue style. This deep-rooted feature contributes to Hue culture and style.
Hue girl in Aodai (Photo: internet)
All of the above features create local diverse resource. Hue city may exploit its strengths to promote socio-economic development, ensure national defense, build Hue city as the national urban center in line with the development planning in 2030, vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister.