Redevelopment of Giang Vo, in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract: The project area for this diploma work takes place in Giang Vo, a housing area situated four kilometres from the city centre of Hanoi, Vietnam. The housing area was financed by the Soviet Union in the 1970´s, during the time of socialist planning economy in Vietnam. 23 areas of Soviet financed housing were developed on state-owned land around Hanoi during this period. The buildings are low, three- to five stories and they all have the same design. Since the opening of the market economy during the 1990´s, private individuals are allowed to run their own business and to buy their own apartment, resulting in new developments and a vivid street life with all types of businesses and commerce. A consequence of private owning is the lack of regulations of who is responsible for the open space between the buildings as well as the public space within the buildings. This has resulted in poor or no maintenance of the buildings over the years as well as the unplanned development of so called low housing. Low housing are a common sight in Giang Vo and are illegal extensions on original buildings made by residents on ground floor to increase their living space or space for business. Low housing are being developed on open state owned land, occupying sidewalks and green areas for private activities. There is a need of more parks and places for recreation in Giang Vo. The Giang Vo Lake within the area is a great asset for the residents and visitors but seems to have been disregarded when developing the area. Several of the Soviet financed housing areas are today facing renovations or redevelopment. The Research Institute of Architecture in Hanoi has prepared three different plan proposals of a redevelopment of Giang Vo. All three of them consist of high-rise buildings with a mix of dwellings, office buildings and commerce. The proposals are contrary to the guidelines made by the City of Hanoi as well as the Hanoi Master Plan 2020, which oppose increasing density in central Hanoi. The overall aim of our study of the redevelopment of Giang Vo is to develop an alternative proposal to the existing ones made by the Research Institute of Architecture. Information about Giang Vo has been collected during our three months stay in Hanoi, through inventories of the area together with useful information and maps received from the Research Institute of Architecture and Tran Hoai Anh. With the inventories as a base, we analysed Giang Vo, both out of our own experiences and with the help of the City Structure Analysis by Kevin Lynch. The analyses led to a structure plan made by the two of us together. The structure plan proposes a development of Giang Vo with a density lying in between the proposals made by the Research Institute of Architecture and the guidelines from the City of Hanoi as well as the Master Plan 2020. We propose Giang Vo to be a section of Hanoi, consisting of a mix of housing, public service, businesses and places for recreation. Individually, Maria Hagelberg has focused on how to improve the situation for local business and commerce and Jenny Nagenius has focused on how to improve areas for parks and recreation.