Turning the mudflats in the middle and along the Hong (Red) River into a multi-purpose cultural park will create an open space for Hanoi, connecting the community with nature, as the river is associated with the formation and development of the city, experts said.

With an area of about 328 hectares in the middle of the Red River and about 63.2 hectares of sandbank, the areas are located in the four districts of Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Tay Ho and Long Bien. They have great potential to become an attractive ecological and cultural space for not only city dwellers but also tourists.

As the mudflats in the middle of and along the river are not far from the city’s centre, they can connect with cultural space of the Old Quarter as well as flower-growing villages of Tay Ho and Long Bien District.

According to Duong Duc Tuan, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, under Hanoi’s Master Plan to 2030, with a vision to 2050, which has been approved by Prime Minister, the Red River is set to be a main landscape axis, which along with the West Lake-Co Loa, will form an open and green space for the city’s central urban area.

As Hanoi is a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, the development of the mudflats is being accelerated to create an architectural landscape with a creative cultural park.

Relevant agencies have been authorised to study the project on “developing mudflats in the middle and along the Red River into a multi-purpose cultural park,” he added.

Both Nguyen Manh Ha, director of the Centre for Nature Conservation and Development, and Le Quang Binh, a coordinator of the For a Liveable Hanoi Network, agreed said that the mudflats need to be zoned off and managed in an environmental friendly and sustainable manner.It is necessary to consider livelihood transformation and integrate people's activities into the city's development planning, they continued.

This area is suitable for ecological spaces with natural recovery, said Nguyen Toan Thang, head of Hoan Kiem district’s urban management division.

Thus, the project aims to effectively tap the potential and natural beauty of the river, creating an open and green space as an attractive destination for locals and visitors, he said, adding this is also an opportunity to lure investors and startups to develop cultural and historical values towards forming a comprehensive creative model not only for Hanoi but also for the country./.VNA