With my placement growing ever nearer, I’ve been very into
Vietnamese culture lately… especially the language! So I wanted to educate
myself more on Vietnam’s urban issues, and figured I’d share my findings! I
don’t claim to have the solutions to any of these issues, I just thought I
should learn about some of the development challenges I can look forward to
when I get to Hanoi. They’re also the kinds of challenges I hope to take on as
a carrier.
Right now, Vietnam is urbanizing faster than it ever has
before… and faster than most of the rest of the world too. Hanoi is considered
one of the most dense and crowded cities in the world. This urbanization has
been both planned and unplanned, with the unplanned happening mainly on the
peripheries of large cities like Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi. Since 2000, the central
state has embarked on large-scale urbanization planning in order to foster economic
development. This has meant developing agricultural land into urban (such as
building industries as well as housing for migrant workers) and revitalization
in slum areas (which has displaced slum dwellers into public housing complexes).
Vietnam is still developing ways in which they can ensure growth is
sustainable, and this is one way they are trying to do so. This is especially
important as Vietnam is one of the top 10 countries that will be impacted by
climate change and needs to mitigate the impacts that climate change will have
on the economy and health (which is also why I think my placement organization
is so important for the country)!
I also found out that Vietnam, in Hanoi especially, is very
focused on preserving it’s architectural heritage. Architecture in the city
ranges from traditional merchant quarters to the French-planned administrative
district of the city. The built heritage of the area has of course changed over
time due to war and poor economic times. Despite the city’s effort, Hanoi’s
built heritage is at risk of disappearing if nothing is done to curb degradation,
inappropriate renovations, and rapid demolitions.
Public space is another issue in Hanoi. With few parks and
clear sidewalks, people have little social space to interact. Planning
standards do indicate minimum green space requirements, however, these aren’t
meet in reality. This also ties into the issue of traffic in the city. With
growing private vehicle use (due to increasing incomes) and narrow roads, Hanoi
is a very congested and polluted city. The city does have plans to
significantly improve public transit and increase ridership, seeing as it is
very underused currently.
Those are some big problems you will be out to tackle! Most of what you say reminds me of my time in Manila, Philippine's capital. So many people, polluted air, concrete and buildings everywhere. And growing. It really makes me wonder what can be done when you are dealing with millions of people and huge spaces - solutions to these issues aren't the easiest to come by then! In your case, it sounds like the government may be trying to implement steps, but is not doing so very successfully. Do you think it is mainly the government's role to address these problems, or do you think the public and civil society will have more of an impact?
ReplyDeleteI think it's a bit of give-and-take. If the public wants these issues addressed, they need to show they care about them though discussion with the government and by taking some action themselves. At the same time, the government is there to serve it's people, and it appears Hanoi's government isn't doing a very good job of that (as you've pointed out). I think with some civil society effort, new policy and funding, these urban issues could be tackled by the public and government together.
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