A rendering of the planned Red River Scenic Boulevard. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A senior official in Hà Nội on Tuesday put numbers to one of the city's most ambitious development plans, outlining a phased schedule to build and resettle thousands of households displaced by the US$28 billion Red River boulevard project.

Hà Nội People's Committee deputy chairman Trương Việt Dũng said the Red River Scenic Boulevard would serve as one of the nine strategic development axes in the capital's 100-year master plan – a green spine along both banks of the river doubling as a corridor for commerce, culture and urban development.

The project will affect roughly 247,000 residents currently living along the riverbanks. Construction is scheduled to run from 2026 to 2038, with the first phase prioritising core infrastructure: the boulevard itself, riverbank stabilisation and embankment works, public parks in Phú Thượng and Hồng Hà Wards and new residential zones to house displaced families.

Those families are to be relocated to several new residential wards in Long Biên, Lĩnh Nam and Bát Tràng, with the city pledging that replacement housing will be equivalent to or better than what residents currently have.

At roughly 201ha, the Long Biên site would provide between 40,000 and 42,000 apartment units. Lĩnh Nam, at about 98ha, would add another 15,000 to 16,000 units.

A larger mixed-use development in Thư Lâm and Đông Anh, covering about 700ha, is still working through detailed planning approvals and is expected to yield between 16,000 and 18,000 residential plots.

In total, the resettlement programme is projected to produce between 79,000 and 85,000 units, which the city said would be largely sufficient to meet resettlement demand.

The Red River Scenic Boulevard project covers roughly 11,418ha and is organised into five work streams: road and transit infrastructure, parks, riverbank engineering, resettlement zones and standalone land-clearance operations.

In the near term, the city would focus on completing the Thú Thượng public park, fast-tracking the Long Biên resettlement site and finalising permits to break ground on the mixed-use development in Thư Lâm and Đông Anh.

The commune government of Hồng Hà has been tasked with helping the developer identify a site to display planning models and sample apartment units to the public.

The project is estimated to cost around VNĐ737 trillion, or roughly $28 billion at current exchange rates. — VNS