Slow traffic infrastructure improvements, air pollution, frequent local flooding after heavy rains, and hundreds of long-delayed projects all have become bottlenecks hindering the capital city’s growth.

If these problems are resolved, Hanoi’s face will change dramatically; if not, every slogan about a modern, green, and smart city will remain only a promise.

Easing congestion 

Nothing exhausts Hanoi residents more than traffic jams. Spending hours packed on streets like Lang, Nguyen Trai, Giai Phong, and Truong Chinh during rush hour is a daily nightmare.

Despite major investments worth tens of trillions of dong in ring roads, urban railways, underpasses, and flyovers, results still fall short of expectations. The causes lie in the rising number of vehicles, inconsistent urban planning, slow relocation of government offices, universities, and hospitals from the inner city, and weak traffic awareness among some citizens.

The newly elected Party Secretary must work with the Party Committee and the People’s Committee of Hanoi to find solutions: reorganizing urban space, accelerating metro projects, expanding public transport, restricting private vehicles, and applying smart traffic management technologies.

Reducing congestion is not just the task of the transport sector, but the entire system, from planning and construction to public awareness. Once traffic flows smoothly, labor productivity, quality of life and the investment environment will all improve.

Pollution and flooding 

Just one heavy rain can turn Hanoi streets into rivers. Outdated drainage systems, poor planning amid rapid urbanization, filled-in lakes, and clogged underground drains all contribute to the problem.

Air pollution is often at alarming levels. Fine dust, vehicle exhaust, waste burning, and poorly shielded construction sites make Hanoi one of the most polluted cities in the world on many days.

City leaders must treat this as a matter of non-traditional security, not just an environmental issue but one that affects the health of millions today and in the future.

Solutions must be comprehensive: protecting and expanding green spaces, strictly controlling industrial emissions, stopping waste burning, increasing the proportion of trees and water surfaces, and relocating polluting factories from the inner city.

In particular, the city needs to change coordination between departments such as Transport, Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, and Planning to avoid the ‘every man for himself’ operations that cause waste and inefficiency.

Urban renovation

What saddens residents and visitors alike is that many parts of Hanoi have lost their charm to chaotic construction, cluttered advertising, tangled power lines, and deformed old-town facades. Hanoi needs a bold urban facelift that preserves its identity while embracing modernity and civility.

Urban renovation is not just repaving sidewalks or repainting facades, but must recreate public spaces, reorganize urban order, and restore beauty to city streets. The pedestrian streets around Hoan Kiem Lake, Trinh Cong Son Street, and soon the area around Son Tay Ancient Citadel have shown new vitality when urban spaces are properly designed.

Unlocking stalled projects 

Hanoi still has hundreds of suspended or abandoned projects. Many well located land areas remain idle while residents cannot build or renovate homes due to frozen zoning plans. This represents a major waste of resources and development opportunities.

The new Party Secretary must direct a thorough review of all delayed projects, making the list, causes, and drawing plans to deal with the problem. Projects with potential can be extended, while those violating regulations must be decisively revoked.

At the same time, investment, construction licensing, and land auction procedures must be strongly reformed to avoid “bureaucratic loops” that discourage businesses and investors.

When land and social capital resources are unblocked, Hanoi will have more momentum to achieve large goals: building a smart city, developing social housing, investing in transport infrastructure and high-quality public services.

Vision for developing capital

Hanoi strives to be a "green-smart-modern" city, and Southeast Asia’s creativity center from now to 2030, and a global city by 2045.

To achieve this goal, the city leadership, especially new City Party Committee Secretary, must be the "political nucleus", leading the city’s political system to operate effectively, while creating breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure, and human resources.

Dinh Van Minh (Former Director General of the Legal Department, Government Inspectorate of Vietnam)