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The major turning point in the urban development of Saigon

is widely considered to be the French conquest beginning in 1859 and the establishment of French colonial rule, especially from the 1860s onward.

Why this is the key turning point

Before 1859, Saigon (Gia Định) was:

• A regional trading town and military-administrative center under Vietnamese rule

• Organized around canals, rivers, citadels, and villages, with organic, low-density development

• Largely shaped by Confucian, Vietnamese, and Khmer spatial traditions

Saigon 1878

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Cochinchine française. Plan cadastral de la ville de Saigon  Author(s) M. Bertaux, Service du cadastre et de la topographie Cartographer(s) A. Chauvet Year 1898 Edition H. Barrère Size 65 x 60 cm Scale 1:4000 Comments Publié sous la direction de M. Bertaux; géomètre en chef, chef du service du cadastre et de la topographie. Réduit et dessiné par A. Chauvet, dessinateur du cadastre. Source

• New urban function

  • Saigon became the capital of French Cochinchina

  • A political, economic, and cultural hub of colonial Indochina

  • Nicknamed the “Pearl of the Far East”

This period marks Saigon’s transition from a pre-modern Southeast Asian city to a modern colonial metropolis.

Saigon 1881 in der Vogelschau

Other important (but secondary) turning points

While the French period is the most decisive, other moments also mattered:

• 1954 (Geneva Accords) – Saigon becomes the capital of South Vietnam, triggering rapid population growth and suburban expansion

• 1975 (Reunification) – Saigon becomes Ho Chi Minh City; socialist planning and later market reforms reshape urban growth

• Đổi Mới reforms (post-1986) – explosive urbanization, high-rise development, and global integration

Eastern Indochina 1963