What Hanoi needs to answer now is not only how to build more boulevards or new urban areas, but also how to ensure that people still feel they belong to the future of this city during the redevelopment process.

A friend of mine who lives outside the Red River dyke recently called to say his family supports the Red River landscape project.

According to him, the riverside area needs proper planning and redevelopment instead of continuing in the fragmented and makeshift condition that has persisted for years.

But what worries him - and many others in the area - most is the issue of compensation as homes are expected to be cleared.

“What we hope for is not necessarily to keep the old house at all costs, but that after relocation we can still have a place with equivalent value, or at least receive enough compensation to buy a similar home to the one we are living in now,” he said.

Then his voice softened: “Our home represents the sweat and sacrifices of our parents and grandparents, together with the efforts of our entire lives. It is also the future of our children.”

Hanoi is now entering an urban redevelopment process unlike anything seen before. Following the revised Capital Law, the city now has an unprecedented institutional framework to implement major infrastructure projects and restructure urban development on a large scale.

The capital is currently clearing land for 1,428 projects. The Red River landscape megaproject alone is expected to affect 247,431 people.

In other words, behind the new bridges, boulevards and urban zones lies a massive social relocation involving hundreds of thousands of residents.

The city faces a difficult dilemma. If compensation prices remain too low, many residents may no longer be able to afford equivalent housing elsewhere, creating hardship and weakening public consensus.

On the other hand, if Hanoi adjusts compensation land prices fully in line with the market, urban development costs could surge sharply, driving up housing prices and investment costs as well.

Perhaps that is why the issue of land compensation in Hanoi currently has no answer that can satisfy everyone.

Authorities are now proposing compensation and support packages worth up to 1.5 times the state valuation when land is reclaimed.

At first glance, this appears to be a positive signal. After years of complaints, disputes and feelings that land was being acquired too cheaply, the government’s willingness to propose higher support levels suggests a shift in administrative thinking.

But for many people, the biggest question may not lie in the 1.5 multiplier itself, but rather: 1.5 times what?

Since 2026, Hanoi has implemented a new land price framework with significantly increased rates in many areas. The highest state-listed land price has reached around VND702 million ($26,900) per square meter on some central streets.

That alone represents a notable shift, as authorities are now being forced to bring official land valuations closer to actual market conditions.

Even so, many people still believe the figures remain far below real transaction prices in Hanoi’s most expensive locations.

Meanwhile, in suburban areas or regions outside the dyke included in new planning schemes, state land prices remain much lower than market expectations after redevelopment.

A piece of land today may still be classified as suburban or agricultural land. But only a few years later, once new bridges or urban zones emerge, its commercial value could change dramatically.

That also means the added value generated from post-planning land appreciation will continue to grow. And this is where a difficult question begins to surface: Who should benefit from that added value?

In reality, Hanoi’s consideration of a support package worth up to 1.5 times already suggests that policymakers understand the current land price framework still does not create a strong enough sense of fairness for many displaced residents.

Because if land prices truly reflected the market, then in theory there would be no need for such a large support multiplier.

Vietnam’s 2024 Land Law is essentially attempting to address one of the biggest bottlenecks of recent years: bringing land prices closer to market reality while requiring land recovery processes to pay greater attention to people’s livelihoods.

At the same time, the law sets out a notable requirement: compensation and resettlement must ensure residents have living conditions, income and housing equal to or better than before.

What matters is that in many places in the past, land clearance was treated almost purely as a technical task - once compensation was paid, the job was considered complete.

Now, however, the 2024 Land Law is forcing authorities to answer a far more difficult question: After losing their land, how will people live? Can they maintain their livelihoods and continue remaining part of the same urban space?

Hanoi will likely become the first city to test this new spirit on an unprecedented scale, as a series of infrastructure projects, ring roads, Red River bridges and new urban developments move forward simultaneously.

But because of the enormous scale involved, pressure to meet deadlines is also becoming increasingly intense. When land clearance becomes a benchmark for evaluating officials’ performance, many fear that residents’ rights may at times be pushed behind the urgency to move quickly.

That may be why the issue of fairness in urbanization ultimately goes beyond the question of how much additional compensation is offered. It lies in whether residents genuinely share in the added value created from their own land.

From an urban development perspective, the redevelopment and restructuring of the Red River area is clearly necessary and justified. A city of nearly 10 million people cannot continue developing in a fragmented manner while leaving such a central space neglected for decades.

In the long term, the strategy aims to improve quality of life, open up new development space and create more sustainable livelihoods for residents.

And perhaps Hanoi’s greatest challenge now is ensuring that during this redevelopment process, people do not feel left behind.

Tu Giang