Sidewalks — Between “Culture” and “Civility”

“This piece was meant to go live yesterday, but Mr. Old Man held it back for a day — just to see whether the sidewalks would look any different today.”
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A foreign friend living in Da Nang left a rather interesting comment under Mr. Old Man’s earlier post about sidewalks.

You can read that post here: https://mroldman.net/ban-mot-chut-ve-chuyen-via-he-o-da-nang/

He said that sidewalks in Vietnam — with their street stalls, roaming vendors, and the constant hum of everyday life — are exactly the kind of “beauty” many Western visitors come looking for. Empty, cleared sidewalks, in his view, feel “less attractive,” even lifeless.

Listening to that, Mr. Old Man had to admit… it does make a certain kind of sense.

There was indeed a time when Hanoi’s Old Quarter was packed with tourists. They walked right on the streets, eyes wide open, curiously taking in every street vendor, every tiny food stall that had claimed the sidewalks. It was a scene unmistakably “Vietnamese” — vibrant, alive.

And yet, at moments, Mr. Old Man could not help but feel… a quiet contradiction.

Are we, perhaps without realizing it, turning sidewalk disorder into a kind of “tourist feature”?

True, sidewalk trading has become a familiar form of “culture.” But culture does not always mean civility.

After all, sidewalks are meant for pedestrians. When people are forced to step down onto the road because there is no space left on the pavement, the question is no longer whether it looks “beautiful” or “ugly,” but one of safety and order.

That does not mean we should erase sidewalk life altogether. On the contrary, if it is thoughtfully organized — with designated areas and clear planning — it can both preserve livelihoods and retain a measure of that “street soul” so many have come to love.

Vietnam does not lack cultural richness to hold a traveler’s attention. The sidewalk is only a small slice of it.

Keep the soul — but do not forget the path itself.
Perhaps that is the longer story of any city.

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Mr. Old Man