San Francisco Frontiers - Lightning advance: swathes of Hanoi demolished for development

A "100-year master plan" for the Vietnamese capital includes new bridges, subway lines and riverside developments.

Hundreds of thousands could be displaced to make way for construction, authorities say, as the city of eight million prepares to accommodate twice as many people by 2045.

Communist leaders hope Vietnam will be a developed country by then, buoyed by breakneck growth and spurred by their huge infrastructure investments.

But the speed of implementation has unnerved residents, made some homeless and left many more fearing the same fate.

"I have never seen authorities acting that quick," said Hung, a 51-year-old businessman whose house was torn down last month for a $750 million bridge spanning the Red River.

"My dad had lived there all his life, he got to know every corner, everyone, now he saw it all demolished in a blink," he added, asking to be identified only by his first name.

He said he received 10 billion dong ($380,000) as compensation along with a rural plot of land -- but that the home's market value was nearly triple that.

The city having another bridge is "good for all, but not for us", he added.

"We are unlucky to be the sufferers in this giant restructuring of Hanoi."

- No joke -

A city of less than half a million for most of its thousand-year history, Hanoi grew dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s as Vietnam underwent market-oriented reforms.

Many migrants from the countryside built homes on land they did not formally own, creating sprawling, semi-planned neighbourhoods with narrow, winding streets.

The city has since formalised construction and embarked on multiple rounds of renovation.

But those plans "were often joked about because they stayed as posters on the wall and little was implemented", according to Danielle Labbe, an urban planning professor at the University of Montreal who focuses on Vietnam.

Now the 100-year master plan is charging ahead.

Top leader To Lam has declared a "new growth model" that includes a major building blitz. He preaches less red tape and faster decision-making, leading to a flurry of project approvals, analysts say.

With seven new bridges planned and more than 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) of metro and rail lines, the Hanoi redevelopment is expected to cost more than $2.5 trillion over two decades.

Roads are also being widened and drainage systems improved in anticipation of flooding risks stemming from climate change.

More than 11,000 hectares along the river is slated to become a network of residential developments and parks -- with roughly 250,000 residents relocated to make way.

State media reported that overall, as many 860,000 could be uprooted. Authorities denied the figure but did not specify an alternative.

Hanoi's architecture and planning department did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

Many Hanoi residents support modernisation, with Labbe calling the population "very pro-development".

But the rapid pace of change and lack of public consultation has bred resentment.

The master plan ran to more than 1,000 pages, according to Labbe, but was only "opened for comment for something like 10 or 15 days".

"Plans didn't use to be approved and implemented so fast," she said.

- 'No greater pain' -

Ho Chi Minh City also has a 100-year master plan, as Vietnam embarks on an infrastructure drive that parallels its giant Communist neighbour to the north, both in scale and execution.

"To me, the influence of Chinese planning is very clear," said Labbe.

Retired house cleaner Phan received her final eviction notice in February and her four-storey home is slated for demolition this week.

The 10-person, three-generation household split up and moved in with other relatives.

Authorities offered a slight discount on a much smaller apartment costing $76,000.

But because like many they did not have title to the land under their home, they were only compensated $19,000 for building costs.

"So now the family is in a very difficult situation and has to borrow money," said Phan, 69.

"Our family used to eat together, sit together, and live happily as three generations under one roof," she said, breaking into tears.

"Now the family is broken apart, everyone scattered in different places. There is no pain greater than this."

B.Turner--SFF