The Latest: On May 19, the Hà Nội People’s Committee issued a formal statement detailing the implementation plan and resettlement principles for the massive Red River Landscape Boulevard Project. The city affirmed that the arrangement of new homes for residents facing clearance would strictly follow the principle of being “equal to or better than their old homes.”
The Details: The urban reconstruction will have a wide area of impact, directly affecting the lives of residents along the Red River. According to compiled data from localities within the clearance area, about 247,431 people currently live in the zone, which corresponds to roughly 70,474 households.
To prepare the necessary housing and land reserves, the Hà Nội People’s Committee stated that the total number of resettlement apartments and land lots is expected to reach around 79,000 to 85,000 units. These will include both low-rise houses and high-rise apartment buildings located in the urban settlement and reconstruction zones of Long Biên, Lĩnh Nam, and Bát Tràng.
The city noted that this supply would “basically meet the resettlement needs of households affected by the Red River Landscape Boulevard investment and construction project.”
The Background: The project formally moved forward on the morning of May 11, when the Hà Nội People’s Council approved the investment policy with 100 percent of attending delegates voting in favor. Despite this unanimous governmental approval, many Hà Nội residents have expressed concerns regarding the population relocation, specifically concerning land acquisition at low compensation prices.
Why It Matters: Almost immediately following the May 19 statement, skepticism surged across social media. Residents in Facebook groups questioned the logistics, with some comments pointing out that the statement failed to address “the mechanism for handling land without red books” or whether “these resettlement allocations are subdivided land lots or apartments in urban areas.”
A user named “Hà Rio” also posted about his family’s experience of “being compensated.” He wrote that his family had “settled on a plot of land outside the Red River dike since the 1970s,” noting that land prices there had reached “two taels of gold per meter” in the 2000s.
However, under the current planning area clearance, they were only compensated “50 million đồng per square meter.” He also highlighted the “difficulties” his family faced with administrative procedures when attempting to clear the mortgage on the subject land. As of 9 a.m. on May 21, his post had received more than 2,500 interactions.
Simultaneously, social media users have heavily shared an urgent petition from the residents of Hồng Hà Ward. The petition calls for authorities to “clarify signs of irregularities in financial management and land use and propose preserving the existing residential area of Hồng Hà Ward” within the project.
The residents asked competent authorities to review multiple issues and issued several direct recommendations. These include not clearing stable residential areas completely, moving residents only when really necessary, having independent appraisals of the full value of the reciprocal land fund, explaining how the unit price for each land area is set, and openly sharing information and holding community consultations, along with other measures.
Thạch Hãn wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 21, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.
