Confusion about street names and house numbers in newly-expanded areas are adding to the chaos of streets in Ha Noi, making it difficult for local residents and others to find addresses.

A new road with incomprehensive name in Hanoi.
 

Normally, the houses which are located on the same road will be named odd or even numbers. But today in Ha Noi's roads, house numbers don't follow any order.

It's not hard to see confusing house numbers on Xa Dan, Vu Pham Ham, Le Van Luong, or Den Lu because they have the same or disordered numbers.

Nguyen Hong Quan, a person from Nam Dinh Province, who wanted to rent a house, said he wasted a lot of time finding the exact address of a house which is advertised on newspaper.

"I want to rent a house on Den Lu Street in Hoang Mai District, but lost nearly half of hour to find it. It is really difficult to find an exact house number," he said.

Real estate agencies are also suffering from the confusion, which arises when making contracts for the sale or rental of properties.

The owner of a real estate business on Xa Dan Street said, "With new street addresses, I take time to guide to my customer to find them. It's easy to confuse them," she said.

Sometimes, it is difficult for walkers who want to ask local residents about new addresses because they are accustomed to using the old name.

In addition, some streets in newly-expanded areas, have yet to be named officially.

Vu Van Son, a taxi driver, also said he drove everyday and knew many roads and streets but it was hard to find an address on a newly named street, and sometimes he refused to pick up customers there.

Truong Minh Tien, deputy director of the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports told Tin Tuc (News) newspapar that many new streets that were formed or expanded but had not been named were causing difficulties for people.

The naming of streets had become difficult because the names of historical heroes were running out, while too many roads and streets were newly opened in the city, he said.

This was an urgent problem in the management of rapid urbanisation, he added.

An architect at the Viet Nam Architects Association, Ngo Doan Duc, said the current disorder in naming streets showed the city still lacked urban planning.

History professor Phan Huy Le said Ha Noi needed to review the naming and renaming of streets in the city to avoid the current confusion.

The naming also needed the involvement of various agencies for a unity plan, he said.

Tien said the culture department would establish scientific projects, including naming streets with clear criteria for the residents and researchers to contribute ideas.

VNS