The New Hanoi Opportunities and Challenges for Future Urban
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Cities 72 (2018) 70–81 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities City profile The new Hanoi: Opportunities and challenges for future urban development T ⁎ Divya Leducqa, , Helga-Jane Scarwellb a UMR CNRS 7324 Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES), Polytechnic College of the University of Tours, 35 allée Ferdinand de Lesseps, 37200 Tours, France b EA 4477 Territoires, Villes, Environnement et Société (TVES), Lille 1 University, France ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Hanoi is the political capital of Vietnam but still ranks second in importance after Ho Chi Minh City, the eco- Urban planning nomic hub of the country. Nonetheless, due to its ancient history, location and political choices, Hanoi, after Sustainable development resisting urban modernity for a long time, now seeks to expand and has achieved international metropolitan Hanoi metropolitan area status. The Millennium anniversary of Hanoi (2010) was a further step in the endogenous development of the Vietnam metropolitan area. Combined with economic globalization since the Doi Moi national policy in 1986 and the current trend of competition between world cities, which is particularly fierce in South-East and Pacific Asia, it has led to some remarkable transformations of the city and in town planning. All activity sectors, population groups and newly developed areas of Hanoi have been vastly reshaped by these metropolitan trends, and by planning processes, funding and management decisions. The scale and diversity of issues highlight the city's ambition to expand, with a metropolitan area covering more than 3300 km2, and to manage its urban transition and conflicting developments, notably the conversion of agricultural land, the implementation of more sus- tainable and participatory urban planning, the ability to attract sufficient foreign and domestic investment to drive urban growth, and, more generally, to open the country to globalization. Many objectives that seem at first sight to be irreconcilable. 1. Introduction number of challenges for the sustainable urban development of the city. This discussion is based on field surveys and interviews carried out More than twelve years after publication of the previous city profile between 2012 and 2017, and on secondary sources. by Van Horen (2005), the shift “from rigid, top-down Soviet-style First, we examine recent changes to the perimeter of Hanoi and the Master Planning to a more flexible Strategic Planning and urban man- planning strategies laid down in the Master Plan for 2030–2050, im- agement approach (Van Horen, 2005: 161; Quang & Kammeier, 2002) plemented since 2010 and already thrown into question (Bertaud, has been confirmed by a stronger neoliberal approach to urban plan- 2011). We review a number of initiatives taken by the Hanoi planning ning driven by foreign and national investments that challenge the authorities to transform Hanoi into “a vibrant metropolitan area in the sustainable development of the sprawling metropolis of Hanoi. The aim global cities competition” (appx. 1, interview 1). Finally, we discuss the of this paper is to examine recent urban development trends in Hanoi, further challenges faced by Hanoi metropolitan area resulting from the one of the cities most impacted by new modes of regulation. The eco- tensions between sustainable development goals and current develop- nomic vitality commonly observed in developing cities in the non- ment trends. western world was strengthened by the Millennium Year celebrations (2010), which acted as an additional lever for the decisions that have 2. Changes in urban form and planning policies in the last decade affected the capital city of Vietnam over the last ten years. Rather than focusing on the heritage and historical growth of the city (Logan, 2000), 2.1. A radical extension of Hanoi Capital Region the purpose of this paper is to examine the socio-spatial fabric of the new Hanoi. Hanoi is located in northern Vietnam's Red River delta nearly 90 km The local appropriation of the global metropolitan model through from the coast. The construction of new Hanoi is more than simply the circulation of ideas and references (McCann & Ward, 2012)is spatial expansion (Smith & Scarpaci, 2001); it is a city-region in a space shaping the city, and current reforms and plans bring with them a strongly defined by water (Fig. 1). In 2008, by the Prime Minister's ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Leducq). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2017.08.003 Received 19 March 2017; Received in revised form 2 August 2017; Accepted 4 August 2017 Available online 16 August 2017 0264-2751/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. D. Leducq, H.-J. Scarwell Cities 72 (2018) 70–81 Fig. 1. Map of recent perimeter extension of Hanoi. Source: Modified by the authors, plotted by Tran Dinh Du, 2012, based on Master Plan 2030–2050 and various archive documents. decision to bring Ha Tay Province, Vinh Phuc Province, Me Linh District Although the top-down approach to urban development of the public and four communes of Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province within authorities is still predominant, they are no longer the only stake- Hanoi metropolitan area, effectively tripling its size to 3344 km2, with holders involved in the urbanization process. Centralized planning, 29 subdivisions, and a population of almost 7 million inhabitants. orchestrated by the Government and managed by the People's Com- Hanoi extended its margins, incorporating agricultural and multi-ac- mittee, has gradually been replaced by decentralized multi-party tivity villages (Fanchette, 2015; McGee, 1995). The extensive building planning policies, involving new private or semi-private players. and infrastructures in the periurban sprawl (Friedmann, 2016; Leaf, 2002) has had serious consequences for water management, notably inadequate drainage networks and increased flooding risks, coming on 2.2. Master plan for 2030–2050: aspects of strategic planning top of existing dysfunctions such as clogged irrigation channels and unequal access of irrigation water for agriculture (Labbé, 2016; The management trend in urban planning fostered by many cities in Labbé & Musil, 2014). the world – San Francisco, Toronto, London, Melbourne (HUPI, 2011: New Hanoi, covering Hanoi and six neighboring provinces under its chapter III International experiences, p. 5–138) – is visible in the recent administration (Fig. 2), is predicted to have a surface area of Master Plan of Hanoi demonstrating the vision, values, commitments 13,436 km2 and a population of 15 million by 2020, raising the ques- and specific areas of focus determining how urban and spatial planning tion of the governance of this vast territory (Saksena et al., 2014). strategies will respond to the needs and aspirations of Hanoi residents (HUPI, 2011: chapter II Assessment on existing condition of Hanoi 71 D. Leducq, H.-J. Scarwell Cities 72 (2018) 70–81 Fig. 2. Administrative divisions and population of the core urban districts. Source: Adapted from Hanoi Statistical Yearbook, 2013, Socialist Republic of Vietnam — General statistics Office, 2013 and HUPI, 2015. Capital, p. 5–138). such as industry, services, commerce, education - will move to satellite Hanoi's urban spatial development is based on the urban cluster urban areas and create new centers (hyper-city) beyond urban devel- model that has shaped many emerging cities in Asia (Choe & Laquian, opment boundary. The buffer space, connected to agricultural ecolo- 2008; Phelps, Bunnell, Miller, & Taylor, 2014). It includes a central core gical landscape area should preserve natural, cultural and entertain- and small and medium satellite urban areas connected by ring roads ment spaces (rivers and lakes, bio-diversity, existing and craft villages)” and radial axes, with connections to the Capital Region and the national (appx. 1, interview 1). The Hanoi People's Committee also seeks to road network (JICA et al., 2007); its aim is to meet the present and avoid the uncontrolled development experienced by other cities such as future economic and urban development needs of Hanoi Capital Region Lagos or Mexico City (appx. 1, interview 3). (Fig. 3). “This model creates chances for renovating urban structure Following studies by a consortium of planning and design firms, from single-pole to multi-pole, ensuring that urban center functions - Perkins Eastman (USA), Posco E & C and Jina Architects (Korea), who 72 D. Leducq, H.-J. Scarwell Cities 72 (2018) 70–81 Fig. 3. Functional areas of the Hanoi Capital Construction Master Plan to 2030 and Vision to 2050. Source: HUPI, based on Phan Tran Kieu Trang (2011) and Approved Master Plan (version 2011). Plotted by the Authors. analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of different development sce- defined prior to the development of the networks and infra- narios and their impact on the Capital, a strategy called “Plan C” was structures. selected by the National Assembly. It was then submitted for appraisal - The West Lake-Ba Vi axis connecting Ba Vi with the historical Ba to national and international experts and a large number of professional Dinh area, bringing together international and national cultural, associations including the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development historical and recreational sites. Association, the Vietnam Association of Architects, the Association of Cities of Vietnam, the Vietnam Federation of Civil Engineering However, in reality, none of the Master Plans (1998, 2003, 2008)