Productive Frictions and Urbanism in Transition: Planning Lessons from Traffic Flows and Urban Street Life in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Drawing on a case study of Ho Chi Minh City where the vast majority of the population ride motorized two-wheelers (motorbikes), this dissertation advances a new way of thinking about the urbanism of street life as the result of a “productive friction” between traffic flows and the built environment. Motorbikes are to Ho Chi Minh City what gondolas are to Venice, that is, a contextually appropriate transportation mode. Not only does the motorbike flow fit the urban form; it also shapes street urbanism. Its friction with the built environment produces a range of social interactions constitutive of street. What are the consequences for the future of urbanism of the shift promoted by policy from motorbikes to cars, and possibly transit mobility? This is the overarching question that this dissertation addresses, using a mixed-methods approach that combines ethnographic fieldwork with multivariate analyses of a transportation survey. The results show that current transportation policies favoring car-based frictionless mobility may presage the end of the urbanism for which the city is long known, that is, its vibrant street life. Furthermore, the on-going mobility transition disproportionately affects the urban poor, motorbike-dependent individuals and millions of street vendors in particular. The livelihood of the latter largely depends on the daily commerce with customers on motorbikes. A transition towards mass transit would sustain street activity as it emerges from transportation flows, especially if coupled with policies promoting non-motorized and micro mobilities. This dissertation enables us to think about mobility transitions and the social transformations that ensue, not only in developing economies but in cities of the Global North as well, as the result of a spatial re-organization of friction points in the city. The conclusions include recommendations for friction planning as a way to design and plan for vibrant urbanisms and inclusive urban spaces.