2 - White City, Red River, Black Death: Colonial Urbanism and Pandemic Disease in Hanoi

In 1898 Governor General Paul Doumer made Hanoi the capital of the federation of French Indochina, reviving the city’s importance and setting off a demographic explosion and a building boom. While the French minority remained about 5% of the city’s population, they dominated the political and economic power. Despite their small numbers, the officially designated European quarter occupied roughly one third of the city’s land, leaving another third for the so-called “native quarter” and the remainder for the administrative offices and the military. The colonial state viewed the Vietnamese city with suspicion, deeming it unhealthy and in need of modernization. French administrators held that the newly developed science of urbanism would solve a host of public hygiene issues. Taming the Red River and sewer construction figured prominently in their plans. Unfortunately, urban growth river traffic, and the establishment of railways created conditions that facilitated the spread of plague and cholera in the early 20^th century. Even worse, the technocrats’ beloved sewer system created an unprecedented health crisis. In the end, the colonial state had to recognize that urban infrastructure could only achieve so much and turned towards robust public health measures. These policies, however, induced a new conflict as Vietnamese resisted their invasive nature.