High-rise high jinks plague Hanoi

Apartment buildings in My Dinh 1 Urban Area in Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem District.-VNS Photo Doan Tung

“So far, despite many attempts, the city hasn’t thoroughly resolved the issue,” he said.

According to Tran Ngoc Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Association, 20 years ago, on June 20, 1988, then-Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet approved the Hanoi Master Plan towards 2020, aiming to build a modern capital.

Hùng said the plan stipulated limiting the population “from the Ring Road No 2 to Vinh Tuy, Nga Tu Vong, Nga Tu So, Cau Giay, Nhat Tan” to below 800,000 people, a target that has already been drastically exceeded.

In the metropolitan area, landscape architecture was to "limit the height of new buildings and only arrange high-rise buildings in some suitable locations." However, he said investors of high-rise buildings had various ways of obtaining construction permits from State authorities.

This, according to Hung, led to a series of licensed high-rise building projects, overloading both technical and social infrastructures.

Hùng said the locations of high-rise buildings and the number of floors of each building in the inner city, especially in the Ring Road No 1 area, should be considered carefully.

“Thanh Cong Lake is covered by a series of high-rise buildings that turn the lake into a pond in the city centre,” he mentioned as an example of poor planning.

Agreeing with Hung, architect Tran Ngoc Chính, chairman of the Vietnam Urban Development and Planning Association, added that the boom in high-rise buildings without control was due to investors seeking big bucks.

The city People’s Committee has issued regulations on the general planning and management of high-rise buildings in the five main districts of Hanoi, including Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Hoan Kiem, the northern part of Hai Ba Trung and the southern part of Tay Ho.

Under the regulations, high-rise buildings along both sides of Ring Road No 1 can be no taller than 24 floors with a total height of 86m. The maximum height for the buildings on both sides of Ring Road No.2 is 27 floors and 97m. Buildings along the Hong (Red) River dike can be no taller than 21 floors, no greater than 76m in total.

Old high-rise buildings in five districts are allowed to be renovated from 21-24 floors, including those on the streets of Nguyen Cong Tru, Giang Vo, Hao Nam, Ngoc Khanh, Thanh Cong, Khuong Thuong, Vinh Ho, Lang Ha, Phuong Mai and Thanh Nhan.

New high-rise apartment buildings on roads which have yet to be upgraded and enlarged have exerted rising traffic pressure on many densely populated areas.