UH Manoa Globalization Research Center receives Ford Foundation grant to address urbanization in Vietnam

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
James Spencer, (808) 956-8835
Globalization Research Center
Posted: Dec 10, 2007

HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Globalization Research Center (GRC) has recently been awarded $553,843 from the Ford Foundation to partner with Ha Noi Architecture University (HAU) in Vietnam on the project "Improving Planning and Urban Management in an Era of Globalization." The project will focus on research and training that supports urban development, management, and planning capacity building in Vietnam. "This unique partnership between one of the world‘s oldest and most prestigious funders, an American university with decades of experience and expertise in Southeast Asia, and the primary educational institution for Vietnam‘s planners and architects represents the cutting edge of both research on contemporary globalization, as well a new kind of global educational network," said James Spencer, Co-director of the UH Globalization Research Center. Over the past 17 years, the urban share of Southeast Asia has increased by close to 38 percent, and Vietnam‘s urban share has increased by about 30 percent. According to the United Nations, these rates of urban growth are among the highest in the world, yet receive little attention from conventional development institutions and policy analysts. The project, which totals $910,800, will encompass three components:

· Examine the effect of Vietnam‘s economic reform strategy of Doi Moi on Vietnamese cities;
· Train HAU faculty towards completion of a Professional Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning as well as create practical planning materials to complement the HAU curriculum in urban planning; and
· Introduce HAU leadership to a range of U.S. urban planning programs to provide perspective in designing and improving their own program as well as strengthening professional urban planning networks between the two countries. For more information about the project or the GRC, contact Jim Spencer, 956-4609; jhs@hawaii.edu; or visit http://www.socialsciences.hawaii.edu/GRC/about/index.html.

For more information, visit: http://www.socialsciences.hawaii.edu/GRC/about/index.html