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Red banners and matching shirts have flooded the ancient villages of Hà Nội as residents escalate their pushback against the massive Red River Landscape Boulevard project.

The Latest: On May 31, 2026—Vesak Day, or the 14th day of the fourth lunar month—residents living within the planned area of the Red River Landscape Boulevard project took forceful action to oppose total land clearance.

In làng cổ Hải Bối, located in the former Đông Anh district, residents wore matching red shirts to local temples, pagodas, village communal houses, and shrines to pray for divine protection over their neighborhoods. The shirts featured printed slogans such as "Harmonious development must preserve residential communities" and “Planning is the future, but it must not erase history.”

The Details: On May 31, the Facebook group The Latest Red River Landscape Boulevard Project (Dự Án Trục Đại Lộ Cảnh Quan Sông Hồng Mới Nhất) published a petition from Hải Bối residents directed to the People’s Committee of Hà Nội.

The post, which included images and videos of the coordinated attire, garnered over 1,400 reactions alongside hundreds of comments and shares.

In their petition, residents urged authorities to integrate the ancient village into the new development based on three points : its priceless heritage value, the avoidance of crude intervention in the heritage core, and a vision to transform the area into an ecological-historical park.

Similarly, residents of Vạn Phúc village in Nam Phù Commune held incense-offering, life-release, and peace-praying activities along the Red River, hoping spirits would protect their homeland, residential area, and relics.

In Thúy Lĩnh, an ancient thousand-year-old-village in Lĩnh Nam Ward, and central areas like Hồng Hà, residents have stayed awake overnight to hang banners demanding preservation.

Some banners referenced a specific directive from General Secretary and President Tô Lâm: “Do not let people’s opinions sink into silence.”

Additionally, a nonprofit website titled The Red River Riverside Community (Cộng đồng ven sông Hồng) recently launched to equip residents with knowledge on how to file petitions.

The Background: On May 11, 2026, the Hà Nội People’s Council unanimously approved the investment policy for the megaproject.

The initiative aims to redesign the urban space along the Red River and improve the central urban area.

It spans 16 wards and communes over 11,418 hectares, with a preliminary total investment of approximately 736.963 trillion đồng, or $28 billion, and is expected to affect roughly 200,000 residents.

The updated policy removed Vĩnh Tuy, Hoàng Mai, and Vĩnh Hưng wards from the area and reduced the investment by 118 trillion đồng, or $4.49 billion.

Tensions on the Rise: Tensions escalated on May 27 when state media reported that the Đại Quang Minh – THACO – Hòa Phát consortium proposed shortening the land clearance period to 2.5 months, triggering intense anger among residents.

That same day, leaders in Bồ Đề Ward held a communication conference urging residents to remove their banners, arguing they could “affect urban aesthetics and local security and order,” and threatened to deploy working groups to “communicate and persuade them directly.”

Following this, on May 30, the Government Office issued Official Dispatch No. 4975. In it, Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Gia Túc directed the chairman of the People’s Committee of Hà Nội to proactively handle public communication, compensation, and resettlement while ensuring the rights of the residents.

Why It Matters: In early May 2026, Hà Nội authorities agreed to gradually relocate and replan all residential areas outside the dike to serve the megaproject.

This decision has triggered widespread frustration, leading to a barrage of open letters, pleas, and online mobilization.

The core of the residents' demands is the absolute prevention of total clearance, the prioritization of village preservation, and adequate compensation, with residents warning that crude intervention risks a severe cultural rupture in Hà Nội's historic suburban areas.

Lê Sáng 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.

Red River Megaproject: Hà Nội Residents Hang Banners, Wear Matching Shirts During Vesak Ceremony Protest

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