HÀ NỘI — Hundreds of urban design projects in Hà Nội have been put on the shelf for years, forcing many people whose homes would eventually disappear to live in misery.

Although Youth Park in Hai Bà Trưng District has been awaiting expansion since the 70s, after several amendments to the plans, the project has not yet started.

The lives of more than 1,000 residents in the district’s Thanh Nhàn Commune are waiting for the plans so that they can apply for land-use and building permits in other areas.

In August 2016, Hà Nội People’s Committee offered two solutions to the problem, including adjusting the size of the project or resettling waiting residents. However, there have been no advances and people continue to live unstable lives.

There is a similar situation in Ba Đình and Đống Đa districts, where, in 2001, the city’s authority withdrew more than 7ha of people’s land to build the Đống Đa Culture, Sport and Amusement Park.

Before the plan even started, the area was leased by private companies to build hundreds of house.

Thanh Xuân District’s Đầm Hồng Park also remains in the planning stage although it was conceived in 1999. Despite district requests, authorities have not yet moved.

Other postponed plans are creating traffic problems. The expansion of Trường Chinh Street’s 102 Lane, for example, has come to a halt for years, forcing thousands of residents into a bottleneck.  

Many privately invested projects are facing similar problems.

The reconstruction plan for Đại Cồ Việt Street’s southern area by Hà Nội Housing Renovation and Development Joint Stock Company (Hadico) in 2002 has been also postponed.

Although amendments to the plan were made in 2011 and 2017, the investors have not yet gone ahead. The area of 32,000sq.m, which is in Lê Đại Hành and Bách Khoa wards in Hai Bà Trưng District, is now severely polluted as the drainage system has collapsed.

The large list of pending projects in Hà Nội attract mixed opinions from experts.

Hundreds of urban design projects in Hà Nội have been put on the shelf for years, forcing many people whose homes would eventually disappear to live in misery. — Photo cafef.vn

Đặng Hùng Võ, former deputy minister of the Natural Resources and Environment, told Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that improper analysis of management capacity was the main reason for the phenomenon.

“Urban design in other countries is based on the implementation capability of related agencies. In Hà Nội, conversely, the important factor is how beautiful the blueprint is. Therefore, it is necessary to have a detailed analysis and measurement plan to avoid creating delays,” he said.

Võ also asked the city authority to tighten management of construction plans and consider withdrawing postponed projects if they negatively affected residents’ lives.

He said feasibility, capital and implementation time were the three essential factors for any urban construction project. Therefore, if an investor was unable to conduct a project, the authority should ask other agencies to implement it.

Đào Ngọc Nghiêm, deputy head of Hà Nội Urban Development Planning Association, said that the urban design in the city had changed several times after Law of Capital was issued. The Law of Capital is the legal mechanism used to address Hà Nội-based issues.

To solve the problems, Nghiêm recommended that local authorities consider cancelling those that were behind schedules or no longer suited the city’s urban design.

Moreover, when investors were incapable of completing their projects, the city needed to assign other agencies to complete them to ensure citizens were not deprived of their rights.. — VNS