Urban Asias – Essays on Futurity Past and Present

81
RURAL ASPIRATIONS IN URBAN VIETNAM
of time capsule capable of transporting those with money comfortably and
safely through the city and to a return to the countryside.
7.1 Vietnam is a land of motorbikes, but for how much longer? Photograph
taken opposite Ho Chi Minh City’s downtown bus station, 2015.
Driver Education—Ruralizing <strong>Urban</strong> Space
Those urban residents without the finances to purchase an automobile
are pursuing likeminded opportunities to adopt a rural sensibility in
city life. In a recent development the young and aspirational are plying Ho
Chi Minh City’s roads as students of the exploding driving school scene.
Driver education students in countries such as the United States generally
believe that operating a motor vehicle is a rite of passage often accompanied
by parents who gift the usage or ownership of a car. In Ho Chi Minh
City, where the practice of driving an automobile does not have a historical
legacy and most of the older generation are financially unable or psychologically
unwilling to drive an automobile, the decision to learn how to drive
without the prospect of owning a car makes sense for a number of reasons.
Firstly, driving practice occurs in the city’s outlying enclaves where there