by Quang Thu & Minh Thu
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A narrow house located on Khuat Duy Tien Street in Thanh Xuan District is one of many sandwiched together as new roads and high-rise buildings use up land. — VNA/VNS Photo Trong Duc |
HA NOI — The capital city has seen an explosion of new roads and skyscrapers in recent years. To allow for such expansion residents have sacrificed living space and moved to houses that are often described as "super small" or "super thin".
In 1991, Phan Thanh Dang spent 18 ounces of gold to buy a 32sq.m house on downtown Thai Ha Street, Dong Da District. Two years later, with the implementation of the new city plan, the new Thai Ha Street cut right through Dang's kitchen. He was left with only 11.2sq.m out of which he built a 4x2.8m four-storey house.
From the outside, Dang's house looks like flimsy card board in the middle of a bustling street. He uses the first floor for his motorbike. The second floor is a living room without room for chairs and tables but enough space for a mini wardrobe. The bedroom and bathroom are on the third floor and then finally, there is a laundry room on the fourth floor.
"It's a little uncomfortable but when you get used to it, it's all right. Plus, our house is on the street front. That helps our business a lot," said Dang. His family provides laundry service. Customers' clothes take up every remaining free inch in his house.
Situated at 56 Nguyen Phuc Lai Street, also in Dong Da District, the house of 37-year-old Pham Minh Duc is another example of a house built after plans for new roads were implemented.
The foundation is about 1m in width and 3m in length.
The ground floor is enough space for a super mini toilet and the second floor is the bedroom and the living room, which is entirely taken up by a 1.5m cushion.
"These houses are destroying the city view and harming our lives, not only owners but people in the neighbourhood," said Do Tu Lan, deputy director of the Ha Noi Urban Development Department, Ministry of Construction.
Lan suggested that city planners develop solutions for disordered houses to maintain the city's beauty and ensure citizens have comfortable living spaces. "When opening a road, we should not perform technical straight cuts without concern for lives after ground clearance. People have to move on with their normal life, but they can only do that in a normal living space."
She said residents of other countries were often asked for their opinion before city plans were developed and implemented and that they were also given rights to join in the bidding process.
"City planning requires agreement from both planners and citizens. Authorities can perform coercion but they should listen to their people," said Lan.
Director of the Ha Noi Institute of Architecture Ngo Doan Duc said: "The objective of city planning is to create a better place for citizens to live, not wide roads and beautiful streets for the sake of the city itself."
"Behind colourful lights and flashy shops stand systems of old blocks agglutinated together with deep, long, dark tunnels of about 0.8m in width," said Ngo Doan Duc as he shared unique Old-quarter stories he has collected for years.
About 50m deep along Alley No33 on Hang Vai Street where more than 200 residents have lived together for decades, 44-year-old worker Ha Dinh Thanh lives with his wife and daughter in a 3sq.m room.
"Our clothes are hung on the block's wall, other belongings put in the pathway. The room is barely enough for us to sit at the same time," said Thanh. "We are so poor to find a house. We are still lucky to have this place. There are many working people out there who have to pay money to sleep in temporary shelters," she added.
Duc insisted that living in such places had negative effects on people's health. He admitted housing and city planning had been of principal concern to society.
"People cannot live in such poor conditions. Authorities and city planners are working hard to find the best solution to relocate citizens, especially those who live in the Old Quarter," said Duc.
He added that this must be done under the appropriate conditions so that people can still maintain their livelihood "or else, no one wants to move out of their current places". — VNS
