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. W...
