Trần Ngọc Anh, a junior student at the National Economics University (NEU), likes to study in the cool and quiet atmosphere of the Hà Nội Library reading room. Capable of hosting 100 readers at once, the library serves retired elderly, students cramming for exams and researchers.

"I’m studying for finals. I’m a student of the Real Estate department, focusing on real estate governance. I hope to be able to find a job as the land officer at the district or communal board member."

New residence development, land clearance and rehabilitation have been the top issues in the right to use land for business and citizens. Việt Nam’s law has it that land ownership belongs to the state. People have their right to use land and build on top of it. Land disputes are highly controversial and if not solved properly can lead to serious public unrest.

Just last month, a group of uncontended villagers from Đồng Tâm village held hostage a group of nearly 30 policemen and local authorities, who they claimed to have wrongly assigned the village’s land for business purposes.

"I’m studying land governance, focusing on the government management of land use and allocation. Concerning what happened in Đồng Tâm, I believe the process should have been transparent from the beginning. The land mobilisation needed to be explained in detail to the villagers so that they could understand and support local goverment."

"What I liked most about what I’m studying is pricing: how to help a property owner understand all 12 factors that can make property price go up or down." — VNS