Hanoi has been called "Asia's most Asian city," but rapid development threatens to turn it into just another megalopolis
By Connla Stokes 25 November, 2010
Artist's impression of the VietinBank Tower, a 68-story project designed by British firm Foster + Partners in Hanoi. A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held for the tower.
Described as Asia’s most Asian city by Frommer’s guides, Hanoi most probably conjures up images of French villas on tree-lined boulevards or roadside noodle restaurants in the Old Quarter, if not the ungovernable traffic -- but skyscrapers?
For proof that Hanoi is now a boomtown, look no further than the soon-to-be-completed Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower in the city’s new central business district -- a planned urban area defined by paddy fields five years ago. The main tower of the South Korean-owned US$1.05 billion development is 68-floors and 336-meters high, making it one of the tallest buildings in Southeast Asia.
Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, soon to be completed.
New Hanoi with thousands of skyscrapers .
The Keangnam project has raised the bar but there is no shortage of competitors. PetroVietnam Construction JSC, a subsidiary of state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, has plans to develop a 102-story skyscraper to the tune of US$1.2 billion. The 528-meter tower would be the second tallest building in Asia after the Buri Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It seems that every Asia major city dreams to "scrape the sky" . Following the path of Hong Kong , Shanghai , Bangkok , Singapore, Manila so on...
Yes , the people prefer to live in the modern life style with high tech or you would like to go back in time and live in the cave without toilet or you prefer to live in the slum like this
Have a look at the Bangkok market that the train go through .
So I prefer to live like this .
-- Edited by Dark Angel on Thursday 25th of November 2010 04:06:58 PM
This is how the rich develope their asset thru real estate portfolios. Within a decade, the surrounding properties will be worth 10 times or more for their property values. Think about NY, Tokyo as an example.
The land is not going to get any larger and the earth is not going to grow any bigger but there will be more people . In order to have a good living space and not to destroy the good farm land for food in small piece of land is to build the taller building.
Due to slumping demand and over building, 825 out of 900 apartment units still sit empty at Burj Kalifa. They build these buildings when the real estate market was hot and maket speculation. The Pentominium is under construction, but delayed due to back payment by investors. The other two are delayed until further noticed. They rely on foreigners to buy and hold for long term investments with the goal of making the country to be the best tourist destination on earth. It doesn't have its own population to sustain the growth. It make sense in Vietnam to build one or two because of booming economy and a quarter of its 86 millions people that needs more upscale services that the country lack.
Laos can be like Switzerland or Singapore if the government can promote stronger education system and gear our country toward new research and development in science and technology. Laos needs strong leader with forward thinking.
