Focus on Mekong

An obvious need for new railroads and other infrastructure in Hanoi

When the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi celebrates its 1,000th birthday next year, it hopes to be wearing a new face.

For much of its existence, Hanoi was little more than a small town and then a sleepy colonial outpost. During the war with the United States it suffered terribly and even by the 1990s its most distinctive features were the wonderfully ornate French colonial Opera House, the maze of narrow streets and shops in the ancient quarter and a placid series of lakes whose banks offered families and lovers their only recreational facilities.

In the intervening years, Hanoi has undergone a metamorphosis. A new airport was constructed along with highways, bridges, high rise hotels, apartment blocks and sophisticated restaurants.

The wartime population doubled to three million. Some four million tourists drop by annually. The concentration of motor cycles to residents is the highest in the world.

New high rise apartments are part of Hanoi’s new face

As Hanoi virtually exploded in its efforts to catch up with other Asian cities such as Bangkok, relays of Japanese experts in 2004 began working with city and government officials on a three-year US$9 million project financed by JICA to draw up a master plan for the city's future development.

That has been completed and several components are already underway, including the construction of the first to lines of a new urban rapid transit system.

Millions of tourists visit Hanoi every year now.

In a separate program other JICA experts continue to work with city officials to try to tame the city's chaotic roadways by training local officials and helping reshape key intersections to relieve heavy congestion, particularly at peak periods.

The officially named Hanoi Integrated Development and Environmental Program (HAIDEP) is the most ambitious urban planning project ever undertaken in Viet Nam and covers every aspect of the city's development.

The new transportation network will be key in just keeping the city moving. As the population spreads into surrounding districts, an extra 600 kilometers of urban roads must be built and the number of bridges across the Red River and Duong River increased from two to eight.

A rapid transport system incorporating four major rail lines and various branches and a subway system is envisaged at a cost of several billion dollars.

The environment has already suffered dramatically, and Hanoi will need all the help it can get as it moves into its next millennium.

The population is expected to nearly double to around five million by 2020 and the number of tourists to explode from four to 23 million people.