Green corridor accounts for 70 percent of total area

10 years ago

In 2005, when the eastern part of Hanoi was still busy with Red River city, in the western part, Ha Tay province (which merged with Hanoi) allocated land to investors to develop large projects with the total area of thousands of hectares.

As of 2008, after Ha Tay merged with Hanoi, there were 744 projects proposed, most of which were commercial real estate projects. Most of the projects were located within or near the Red River flood drainage corridor, which is a low-lying, semi-submerged area in the Day and Tich river basin.

The depression area has been taking shape for thousands of years, and has been protected and restricted for settlement for hundreds of years. But within 1-2 years, it was allocated to develop real estate projects.

After expanding its administrative boundaries (in 2008), Hanoi made a general plan in order to prevent haphazard urban development.

The ‘green corridor’ strategy and five satellite cities, ecological urban areas, towns, and rural areas were the major content of the general planning to 2030 and vision towards 2050, approved with Decision 1259/TTg in 2011 (Plan 1259).

In October 2011, Hanoi publicized the report on reviewing Plan 1259 with relation to the green corridor. The report pointed that the model is in line with the trend in developing countries and suitable for capital city development.

However, after 10 years, Hanoi admits that the green belt has not been developed, and many new urban areas have been separated with a lack of integrity and connection. And there is still no investment plan for the technical infrastructure system.

Plan 1259 pointed out that the green corridor plays an important role and brings great benefits to ensure both the development and conservation of important ecological resources

Plan 1259 pointed out that the green corridor plays an important role and brings great benefits to ensure both the development and conservation of important ecological resources, including greenery, urban water surfaces, and ecological river and wetland areas – the conditions to maintain a sustainable agricultural economy, providing a livelihood for 2 million people, as well as the sustainability of social, cultural and historical structure.

The green corridor would also help Hanoi adapt to challenges caused by climate change. It will not only help overcome flood disaster, but also drought, water/soil/air pollution, saline intrusion due to river exhaust, and sea water level rise.

In addition, the green corridor provides an inland waterway transport network with low cost and high efficiency, and helps reduce pollution and create beautiful landscapes.

Green corridor in Hanoi

The green corridor occupies 70 percent of natural area of Hanoi, but Hanoi still has 50,000 hectares of rice fields for urban development, and enough space for 3 million more people (160 sq m per head).

The proposal on reducing the green corridor area to 60 percent to increase the urban area needs to be considered thoroughly. In many urban development projects, there are no residents and the projects were built only for buying and selling.

Hanoi has shifted tens of thousands of hectares of rice land (public land) into commercial real estate (privately owned), but budget collections are still not enough to invest in urban infrastructure.

The Plan 1259 report showed that the ratio of land for transport to land for construction is 10.07 percent (it should be 18-26 percent), which is even lower than the inner city road rate (it was 10.30 percent in 2006, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency - JICA).

Hanoi had to borrow $2 billion to develop 20 kilometers of urban railways. Around 13.5 kilometers were put into operation in 2021.

Regarding inland waterway transport, the report showed that river passages are dredged and upgraded periodically in accordance with a roadmap. Meanwhile, waterways and road transport face limitations because of the clearance height of Long Bien and Duong Bridges.

In fact, 251 kilometers out of 300 kilometers of designed waterways in Plan 1259 on the rivers of Tich, Day, Nhue, Thiep and Ca Lo do not operate.

Under the capital city development plan for 2021-2030 with a vision towards 2050, Hanoi set a goal of developing a network and space for technical and social infrastructure; protecting the environment; effectively using and protecting natural resources, biodiversity and adapt to climate change; and ensuring comprehensive connections in the capital area and Red River Delta.

In 2010, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and JICA cooperated to conduct a comprehensive survey on sustainable development of Vietnam’s transport system and pointed out that inland waterway transport is an advantage of the Red River Delta, where there are 1,230 kilometers of waterways. It is expected that demand would increase by twofold by 2030, mostly in the Hanoi – Hai Phong – Quang Ninh route.

As road and urban railway transport are expensive, Hanoi needs to exploit inland waterway transport because of advantages, low investment rate, and high efficiency.

This is not a new idea, and was mentioned 10 years ago. Hanoi just needs to do what it said at that time. 

Tran Huy Anh (Hanoi Architect Association)

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