Street shops, eateries and tea shops can be seen on the sidewalks, especially in inner city areas such as Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh and Dong Da. Petty merchants exploit every square meter of sidewalks in the old residential quarter of Hanoi to display goods for sale. Sellers only need to put tables and chairs on pavements to form an eatery. 

This forces people and tourists to go down the road alongside cars and motorbikes. This not only spoils urban beauty but also is a traffic accident risk.

The problem has existed for many years.

Bui Thi Binh An, a 13th National Assembly Deputy, said district authorities in Hanoi launched campaigns to clear street shops to "give the pavements back" to pedestrians. However, as soon as the agencies left, the petty merchants once again set up their shops, and pedestrians once again lost the sidewalks reserved for them.

“To achieve the goal of developing Hanoi into a livable city and the country’s ‘locomotive’ in all fields, it is necessary to take action so that Hanoians can enjoy the beauty of this old and civilized capital city,” An said. “The municipal authorities must not let people occupy pavements."

She said that local authorities need to be more serious in dealing with pavement occupation and help petty merchants earn a living once they shut down their pavement shops.

“Hanoi needs to create a livelihood for those who lose jobs as pavement shops shut down. Only by doing this will people agree with the municipal authorities on running campaigns to regain pavements for pedestrians,” she said.

Analysts say that clearing pavements is not an easy task for the municipal authorities. The pavement economy has existed for many years.

Some analysts have suggested "using pavements in a reasonable way", i.e. allowing people to run shops and do business on some streets. 

Doan Minh Tam, former director of the Institute of Science and Technology, agrees that if the municipal authorities can ensure livelihoods for people, they will be "ready to give back the pavements to pedestrians".