Hanoi is on the move

The Red River banks are now seen as ripe for development

Communist Party of Vietnam general secretary Nong Duc Manh told the body’s sixth plenary session in Hanoi last week.
A broad expansion plan will be submitted to the upcoming National Assembly meeting for approval in the year’s second quarter.

Tran Duc Vu, deputy director of the Hanoi Planning and Investment Department, said the city’s area will be tripled to 3,200 square kilometres and contain nearly seven million people once the city’s expansion plan is approved.
The expansion plan will be closely based on the Red River Regional Master Plan and the Social and Economic Development Strategy which was approved by the government in 2002.

Vu said the city needed to triple in size to meet its growing population and rapid urbanization.
The city will spread out to Ha Tay, Hoa Binh, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Ha Nam provinces.
Hanoi will remain the political, administrative and economic development hub, while neighboring provinces will be developed into industrial zones and vocational villages.

Tran Ngoc Chinh, Deputy Minister of Construction, said identifying political and administrative addresses and developing modern infrastructure and urban areas were a priority.
“This plan will be appraised by experienced foreign architects before being submitted to the prime minister for approval,” Chinh said.

Vu said the capital was currently rapidly spreading westwards to Tu Liem district’s My Dinh commune, with growth soon extending to the eastern bank of the Red River. In 1998 the government assigned the city to develop the river banks.
In the past six years the Hanoi People’s Committee has coordinated with consultancy firms from Japan, South Korea and the US to research the development of land north of the Red River.
Vu said the 11,000 hectare area in the northern bank, which has a population of 1.5 million, offered exciting opportunities for development.

Two bridges, Vinh Tuy and Thanh Tri, are under construction while the Nhat Tan bridge is expected to start construction early this year to help developers penetrate the river’s northern bank.
Vu added that the west of Hanoi would be reserved for developing tourism and resort facilities, the north and northeast for developing industrial and urban sites, while the east would develop services and agriculture.