The plan of Hue was based on the design of Nguyen Van Yen. The elements that make up this urban ensemble - the Fortified City, the Imperial City and the Purple Forbidden City - are laid out according to a principle based on a series of successive enclosures. A north-south axis ensures the symmetry of the buildings and their functions. Outside the city, other monuments are in harmony with the natural site: the tombs of the Nguyen Dynasty are significant works of architecture and landscape architecture.

The urban fabric is dense with monuments. Three successive fortification walls structure the ensemble. The first, in Vauban style like the coastal bastion, is surrounded by berms, moats, and glacis of 2,235 m. per side. The architecture is charged with symbols related to Oriental philosophy and Vietnamese tradition, and the natural landsape is also embodied with identical meanings. Brick is the principal construction material, but the palaces and the places of worship also have wood structural elements and yellow and blue glazed tiles. Gardens and orchards are integrated into this monumental context.