Over $200M proposed to ease Hanoi Old Quarter overcrowding

Hoan Kiem District has submitted a project to ease overcrowding in Hanoi’s Old Quarter to the municipal authority.

The project is aimed to ease Hanoi Old Quarter overcrowding

Vu Van Vien, Chairman of the district People’s Committee, said the project consisted of several different phases. The first scheduled from 2012 to 2015 would comprise of total investment of VND4.3 trillion (USD207.8 million), including VND400 billion (USD19.4 million) from the state budget and the rest raised from other channels.

The first 1,800 households, including 750 living in historic buildings and schools, would be moved to the Viet Hung new urban area in Long Bien District in the first quarter of 2012. The relocation of 1,020 additional households would be carried out in the third quarter of 2012.

The whole project, which needs 40ha in land, is aimed at reducing the high population density in the Old Quarter and preserving the city’s cultural heritage. The following phases of the project would be implemented after 2015.

Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, asked the local Department of Planning and Architecture to complete the resettlement plan for the Viet Hung new urban area before July 20. He also called on preferential land and house prices for relocated households to help them settle in to their new location.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter covers 81ha across 10 wards of Hoan Kiem District. Its population density is 840 pople/ha, which had led to overloaded traffic infrastructure and environmental pollution.

The resettlement project is expected to reduce the Old Quarter’s population density to 500 people/ha by 2020.

Hanoi authorities earlier proposed pedestrianising large areas of Hoan Kiem District, including the Old Quarter. Hang Buom, Ma May, and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets would be pedestrianised at weekends, with a plan to roll-out the policy to other areas in the district if successful.