The promise of progress comes at a cost of homes, livelihoods and familiar sites, as dust from demolitions drifts across neighborhoods, settling on rooftops, trees and the few buildings still standing.<\/p>\n
Nguyen Thi Nhan used to sell fruit from her 300-square-meter (3,230-square-foot) street front home. It was demolished to make way for a road. She has yet to get compensation for its loss and now rents a home for her family and parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to wait. I don\u2019t know where they will relocate us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The building boom carries risks <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n This aerial shot shows a ring road being built, cutting through a residential community in Hanoi, Vietnam, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n This aerial shot shows a ring road being built, cutting through a residential community in Hanoi, Vietnam, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Big billboards display impressive visions of gleaming towers of steel and glass in new business and industrial districts, broad boulevards, parks and waterfront promenades. The plans call for the demolition of colonial villas, traditional narrow shophouses and densely packed low-rise buildings. The city will have new roads, bridges and transit links to airports and neighboring provinces. <\/p>\n The centerpiece is a $28 billion redevelopment along both banks of the silty Red River that runs through the city. It will cover 11,400 hectares (28,170 acres) \u2014 larger than the size of central Paris \u2014 and will feature new roads, parks, urban districts and, crucially drainage and other flood controls to contain chronic inundations. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A view of Hanoi showing the Red River, with a bridge spanning the river and densely populated neighborhoods lining its banks. Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal) <\/p>\n A view of Hanoi showing the Red River, with a bridge spanning the river and densely populated neighborhoods lining its banks. Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal) <\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The construction site of a new bridge crossing the Red river is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n The construction site of a new bridge crossing the Red river is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n A $35.2 billion Olympic sports area backed by Vietnam\u2019s biggest company Vingroup will be anchored by one of the world\u2019s largest soccer stadiums, shaped like a drum and capable of holding 135,000 fans.<\/p>\n Authorities also plan a major transport overhaul designed to reshape how Hanoi grows, reducing pressure on the city\u2019s historic center by creating multiple transport hubs.<\/p>\n Such modern infrastructure is vital to Vietnam\u2019s efforts to attract foreign investment and create new opportunities for residents and businesses, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS\u2013Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. But he warned the construction boom also risks diverting capital from the high-tech industries Vietnam wants to develop. And it could also raise property prices, leaving banks exposed to bad loans if the market weakens. <\/p>\n Apartment and land prices have risen sharply, making homes in the country\u2019s biggest cities unaffordable for many. Meanwhile many developers are heavily indebted, with debt levels higher than those of peers in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, according to a 2025 S&P Global report.<\/p>\n Real estate makes up about 3.5% of Vietnam\u2019s GDP, but accounts for roughly a quarter of bank lending. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are huge economic opportunities arising from those projects, but at the same time, there are risks that need to be considered,\u201d Giang said.<\/p>\n Hanoi\u2019s transformation raises fears over what may be lost<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A woman rides a moped past banners put up by local residents to call for stopping a project that would displace the entire village by the Red river in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n A woman rides a moped past banners put up by local residents to call for stopping a project that would displace the entire village by the Red river in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n As Hanoi races to rebuild itself, residents are grappling with what that means for the communities and memories left behind.<\/p>\n Small changes in Hanoi\u2019s streets can mean big disruptions for those who depend on them, as signs and awnings that have long been part of the city\u2019s street life disappear.<\/p>\n A citywide crackdown since November has been clearing sidewalks of illegal parking, street vendors and commercial encroachments. Police vans roam the Old Quarter in the evenings, using loudspeakers to remind vendors to remove brightly colored plastic stools that spill onto sidewalks. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A woman walks past a banner propped up by local residents to call for stopping a project that would displace the entire village by the Red river in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jun 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh) <\/p>\n A woman walks past a banner propped up by local residents to call for stopping a project that would displace the entire village by the Red river in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jun 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh) <\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n A woman walks toward a street vendor selling bamboo items in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal)\n <\/p>\n A woman walks toward a street vendor selling bamboo items in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n A motorbike drives past a police van that patrols the Old Quarter in Hanoi to clear pavements in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal)\n <\/p>\n A motorbike drives past a police van that patrols the Old Quarter in Hanoi to clear pavements in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (AP Photo\/Aniruddha Ghosal)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Thuy, a beef noodle soup seller who gave only one name, said the four stools and tables outside her shop once allowed her to serve four additional customers every hour or so. Now she can\u2019t and is only scraping by. \u201cMy profits are already small to begin with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In a rare show of public dissent, residents of the Bac Cau community along the Red River hung banners \u201cimploring\u201d city authorities to let thousands of families remain in their homes.<\/p>\n The villagers fear planned roads will eventually wipe out their community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to continue to live here, we\u2019ve been here for generations,\u201d said Van, a local resident who gave only her first name given risks of trouble with authorities for speaking out.<\/p>\n Questions persist over how the rebuilding is being carried out<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Local residents look out from their home, partially demolished to build a new ring road in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n Local residents look out from their home, partially demolished to build a new ring road in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Hanoi has set compensation and resettlement rules for land acquired for redevelopment projects, covering damaged structures, relocation costs and support for families moving graves. <\/p>\n But some residents said they had yet to receive any compensation and were uncertain about where they would live or what the future holds.<\/p>\n The challenge is not modernization itself, but its rapid pace and a lack of consultation with residents and experts, said Giang. It would be better, he said, to find ways to preserve the city\u2019s history, street culture and livelihoods as it rebuilds. <\/p>\n Beijing, for instance, tore down most of its centuries-old city walls in the 1960s to make way for its first subway line and what is now a major ring road. <\/p>\n Similar redevelopment drives in China and other Asian cities have sparked disputes as residents were relocated to suburbs that often lacked basic amenities, breaking apart long-established communities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n People ride past a site being cleared for a new ring road in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh) <\/p>\n People ride past a site being cleared for a new ring road in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hau Dinh) <\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we depart from the city\u2019s history, it\u2019s very hard to revert or to turn back,\u201d Giang said.<\/p>\n Unlike the past two decades of outward expansion through new urban areas, Hanoi\u2019s current reconstruction is focused on reshaping the existing city, said Linh Nguyen, lead analyst at Control Risks.<\/p>\n This means redeveloping existing neighborhoods and relocating institutions \u2014 a far more complex task since it involves residents, property rights and compensation. The key challenge is execution, particularly land acquisition, relocation and coordination across government agencies. It\u2019s also about whether Vietnam\u2019s increasingly centralized state can deliver projects that have been planned for decades but never carried out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last 20 years were about building a bigger Hanoi. The next 20 years will be about rebuilding the Hanoi that already exists. That\u2019s a fundamentally different challenge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HANOI, Vietnam (AP) \u2014 The noise is everywhere in Hanoi. The crack of a hydraulic breaker, the groan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1204,28,1685,101,793,11451,149,12191,3999,54047,965],"class_list":["post-793048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-asia-pacific","tag-business","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-economy","tag-general-news","tag-hanoi","tag-lifestyle","tag-small-business","tag-vietnam","tag-vietnam-government","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785402979_433_.jpeg\")
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