Where development has taken place, it consists of predominantly unfinished large villas, mid-rise apartments, and very long row houses by the side of the road (Splendora, above). While real estate development gained momentum since Doi Moi, making it the most profitable business in Vietnam in 2007, the market has stagnated since 2011. Vietnam now faces oversupply of high end real estate at the same time as having a severe shortage of affordable and social housing.
To gain land for high-end developments like Splendora, agricultural land formerly cultivated by farmers from adjacent villages has been expropriated in recent years. In some cases (above), five years later no development work has begun. It was the sight of eerie ghost towns, uncultivated land and protesting rice farmers, suffering from the expropriation of their agricultural land, which we faced during the site visit, this March.
HANOI VISION 2050 PART 1
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