Hanoi, Île-de-France join hands to transform a French-style villa into a cultural hub

HANOI TIMES — Hanoi and Île-de-France officials jointly unveiled a plaque marking the completion of the project to restore, preserve and prevent deterioration of the French-style villa at 49 Tran Hung Dao – 46 Hang Bai on November 15.

At the event, Standing Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Duong Duc Tuan said the project serves as a model for restoring and preserving French colonial villas in Hanoi, which the city plans to replicate for other heritage sites in need of conservation.

“This reflects our shared commitment to cooperation, knowledge exchange, heritage preservation and the goal of building a city that advances with both tradition and modernity,” he said.

Tuan said the unveiling marks an important next step, confirming both sides’ determination to transform heritage buildings into cultural and creative spaces.

“Beyond the renovation itself, experts from Hanoi and Île-de-France will continue working together to turn the villa into a new cultural venue,” the vice chairman added.

The restored villa will host community activities and serve Vietnamese and French artists and researchers. It will also help create sustainable conservation models that can be applied elsewhere.

Tuan noted that the villa is one of the venues for the 2025 International Photography Biennale, organized in cooperation with L’Espace – the French Cultural Center in Hanoi.

Before the unveiling, Tuan met with Anne-Louise Mesadieu, Regional Councilor of Île-de-France, to discuss future cooperation.

Mesadieu said the partnership between Hanoi and Île-de-France remains a long-lasting and effective model. Established in 1989, it has expanded across many fields.

She hoped future cooperation will address climate change through public–private partnership models that support joint investment and management of public infrastructure while encouraging business participation from both sides.

At the meeting, Emmanuel Cerise, Director of Paris Region Expertise (PRX), reviewed key achievements of bilateral cooperation from 2022 to 2025.

PRX has worked with Hanoi agencies to develop and translate materials and guides on sustainable urban development, air pollution reduction, green space management and ecological planning.

The Moov’Hanoi project has supported public transport improvements through a multimodal mobility network. Meanwhile, the villa restoration, carried out over more than a decade, stands as one of the highlights of Hanoi–Île-de-France cooperation.

Vice Chairman Tuan agreed with the assessments, highlighting the Moov’Hanoi project and the villa restoration as major milestones.

“Hanoi is organizing many activities as part of its participation in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network in 2025, with the 49 Tran Hung Dao villa serving as one of the exhibition venues,” he said.

Tuan also praised PRX’s support for heritage restoration in Hanoi, including work on expanding and improving Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square.

He urged Île-de-France to continue supporting Hanoi in conserving and enhancing heritage sites in the historic urban core through concrete initiatives.

Hanoi and the Île-de-France Region were the first pair of localities to establish a cooperation framework between Vietnam and France in 1989. Over the decades, they have achieved strong results in sustainable development, urban planning, culture and heritage conservation.

Their partnership remains one of the most successful examples of local-level cooperation between the two countries, bringing practical benefits to Hanoi’s urban life and cultural landscape.