Formed in the early 1900s through carefully prepared urban planning projects, Da Lat once possessed a highly distinctive urban identity, reflected in its spatial structure and city image as well as in its landscape architecture and socio-cultural fabric. Tangible and intangible recognition elements played central roles in shaping Da Lat’s urban image, contributing to its appeal among tourists and urban scholars, planners, and heritage researchers. However, like many rapidly developing tourist cities across Vietnam, Da Lat is now confronting the serious threat of losing its unique identity due to unregulated development. The study adopts a comprehensive methodological approach that integrates field surveys, expert interviews, and public perception assessments to identify the core elements shaping the urban identity of Da Lat. Ultimately, the paper emphasizes the role of landscape architecture as a fundamental and enduring value, contributing to the enhancement of the city’s legibility, imageability, and long-term memorability. It further asserts that the preservation of landscape architecture is essential to reinforcing the integrity of Da Lat’s urban identity.