Red River in a 100-year vision: Awakening the urban face of Hanoi in the future

Looking back at the development process of the Capital in the historical flow, Hanoi has gone through 8 times of establishing and adjusting the general plan. Each stage has its own orientation, but never before has the city placed the issue in a 100-year vision as it is today.

With the Hanoi Capital Plan for the period 2021 - 2030, vision to 2050, the city defines a clear development roadmap. By 2035, Hanoi strives to basically achieve the criteria "Culture - Civilization - Modernity - Happiness"; by 2045, it will reach the level of developed capitals in the region and in the world; by 2065 and the following stages, towards becoming a global city with a high quality of life.

In the new planning thinking, the Red River is identified as the central landscape axis, playing the role of "backbone" in organizing space and is a new symbol of development of the Capital.

According to Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem - former Director of Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Development Planning Association, raising the role of the Red River is not a temporary idea, but the result of a research and accumulation process lasting nearly four decades.

However, the difference of this plan lies in the approach. From the traditional "flood prevention" thinking, the plan shifted to adapting to nature.

Reality shows that the Red River is always closely associated with the formation and development of Hanoi. From historical symbols such as Long Bien Bridge to modern infrastructure works such as Nhat Tan Bridge, Vinh Tuy Bridge, Thang Long Bridge. The river bridge system both ensures spatial connection and contributes to expanding the driving force of urban development to both East and West.

Not only carrying spatial meaning, the Red River is also seen as a connecting axis of history, culture and the future development of Hanoi. Architect Dinh Viet Phuong - Director of 3DArt - emphasized that the Red River landscape axis is a strategic space to realize the three value propositions of Hanoi: Culture - Identity - Creativity.

The Red River is the origin of Vietnamese residents, the place that formed the wet rice civilization, villages, beliefs and urban structure of Thang Long for more than a thousand years.

In the journey to enter a new era of development, if the Red River is not placed in the center, Hanoi will lack a symbolic axis strong enough to connect the past with the future.

Architect Dinh Viet Phuong believes that to turn this orientation into reality, a synchronous policy system, the joint efforts of social resources and the active participation of the people, especially the younger generation, are needed.

If implemented in the right direction, the Red River axis will become a heritage axis - a creative axis of the Capital. And then, Hanoi will not only develop in scale, but also develop in cultural depth - what makes up the bravery of a thousand-year-old capital," architect Dinh Viet Phuong affirmed.

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