Transformative Arenas: Spatializing Indigenous Epistemologies through an Urban Living Lab in Vietnam's Highlands

Highland ethnic communities in Vietnam face severe spatial ruptures due to top-down normative planning that overlooks indigenous cultural practices. Addressing this, this study transforms the Mang But settlement (Quang Ngai) into an Urban Living Lab (ULL) to co-produce an adaptive spatial planning framework. Engaging the Xo Dang people as co-researchers within a Quintuple Helix model, the research translates intangible cultural heritage—such as heterarchical governance and sacred water rituals—into empirical urban design parameters using GIS and iterative co-design. This process spatializes indigenous knowledge, replacing rigid grid-iron layouts with a resilient radial morphology centered on the communal Rong house and ecological buffer zones. By validating intangible heritage as official spatial data, this framework introduces a new epistemology for urban design, demonstrating how community-led practices can foster socio-ecological sustainability.