The Urban Landscape of Hoa Lu, the Tenth Century C.E. Capital of Vietnam

This article provides an overview of Hoa Lu’s urban landscape, including the structure of its inner and outer enclosures and natural elements integrated into its urban form in the tenth century C.E. This study argues that Hoa Lu’s pattern of occupation aligned with the general form of Vietnam’s largest historical settlements. Its urban complex can be understood as a large area with multiple zones, combining wide, bounded, less densely occupied outer areas with central enclosed zones, some sections of which may have contained more concentrated occupations. Tenth century Hoa Lu should thus be viewed as a patchy, low-density type of settlement, as part of a larger pattern of Vietnamese urbanism.