Urban Regeneration in Dran Town Application of Ecological Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development

Dran valley was one of the most illustrative Da Nhim River basins. Dran town was originally the village of indigenous people, experienced through several historical events that consequently resulted in the cultivated agricultural lands and forestry. In the 20th century, Da Nhim electric power station was built, industrializing the land with more urban and industrial functions, yet, its strong highland biodiversity supported by the terrain, water streams and forests are still strong. The research looks at Dran today with constrained water resources, pollution, landslide and flood caused by unscheduled water release from the electric power reservoir. The proposal aims to prevent the echoing problems in the area by emphasizing the presence of water in the daily and productive lives of people, allowing them to embrace the notion of living with water for future resilience. The research develops a conceptual framework that takes the ‘risk by hazard and vulnerability over coping capacity’ of this project into regenerative capacity to add social and cultural values for the community. This ‘regenerative capacity utilizes landscape infrastructure’ in terms of nature-based flood defense, circular water management, and place-based conservation.