Concerned that public protest banners could “affect urban aesthetics and local security and order,” the leaders of Bồ Đề Ward in Hà Nội have instructed residents to “remove them voluntarily.” If they do not comply, ward authorities stated that they would form working groups to “communicate and persuade them directly.”
The Latest: On May 27, Bồ Đề Ward held a conference titled “Communicating the Red River Landscape Boulevard Investment Project” to “orient communication work and gauge public opinion among residents.”
The Details: Vũ Thị Thành, secretary of the ward Party Committee, stated that social media had seen many “inaccurate, speculative, and rumor-based” claims about the project before any official compensation or resettlement plan had been issued.
She urged political and social organizations to “strengthen communication and encourage residents to understand and support the city’s policy” and to “proactively grasp people’s thoughts and aspirations and take part in early mediation, dialogue, and conflict resolution at the grassroots level.”
Explicit Warnings: Thành instructed residents “not to hang banners or slogans related to the project.” She noted that while doing so had not yet violated the law, it “affects urban aesthetics and local security and order.”
She also asked residential groups to “communicate with residents so they voluntarily remove” the banners, warning that working groups will “communicate and persuade them directly” if they refuse.
Thành added that local authorities “commit to accompanying residents during the project’s implementation” and will “continue asking the city to consider residents’ proposals.”
Fan Page Statement: On its fan page, Bồ Đề Ward declared that it must “focus on broad and in-depth communication” about the project’s “purpose, benefits, and meaning,” “properly carry out skillful mass mobilization,” and “fight and refute false and distorted information related to the project to protect the people’s legitimate rights and interests.”
The ward also claimed that attendees at the conference were “basically in agreement” with the “capital’s development policy and orientation.”
The Background: The clearance of Bắc Biên ancient village in Bồ Đề Ward has recently sparked intense public debate over the risk of cultural rupture and the potential loss of the area’s thousand-year-old history.
The Bắc Biên traditional village communal house, also known as the Phúc Xá communal house, was recognized as a national historical and cultural relic in 1993. The An Khánh Pagoda bell, currently kept at Bắc Biên temple, was recognized as a national treasure in February 2026.
Nguyễn Văn Chính, a resident knowledgeable about the history of Bắc Biên, stated,
“The value of a national treasure or a national relic complex can only be fully realized when it exists in an organic relationship with the local community—the people who directly look after it every day, practice its beliefs, and pass down its village conventions. If the village no longer exists, the relics will become cold, soulless architectural blocks, losing the human roots that created their thousand-year historical value.”
Since early May 2026, residents have utilized peaceful advocacy methods to ask city authorities to consider public opinion. Banners reading “Residents of [X] hamlet firmly petition authorities at all levels to consider the people’s thoughts and aspirations […]” have appeared widely online and in residential areas. These banners express a desire to “keep existing residential areas intact” or “oppose total clearance.”
Additionally, residents have sent petitions and collective open letters demanding “no total clearance,” information transparency, and on-site resettlement. Multiple Facebook groups have emerged to share information and express opposition, while a nonprofit website named Red River Residents’ Community (Cộng đồng ven sông Hồng) was recently launched to guide residents on how to file formal petitions.
Why It Matters: On the morning of May 11, 2026, the Hà Nội People’s Council unanimously approved the investment policy for the Red River Landscape Boulevard project, with 100 percent of attending delegates voting in favor.
This strategic megaproject aims to advance the redesign of urban space along the Red River and improve the central urban area of the capital.
The project passes through 16 wards and communes, covering approximately 11,418 hectares. It features a preliminary total investment of roughly 736.963 trillion đồng, or $28 billion, and is expected to affect about 200,000 residents.
Compared with previous iterations of the policy, this newly approved version removed three wards—Vĩnh Tuy, Hoàng Mai, and Vĩnh Hưng—from the project area and reduced the total investment by approximately 118 trillion đồng, or $4.49 billion.
Hoàng Nam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 1, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
