Heritage laws make life miserable for Hanoi Old Quarter residents

A streets-side barbershop on Hang Ruoi Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Laws prevent badly needed upgrades to cramped and decrepit housing in the capital’s most popular neighborhood.

Squeezing through a crowded clothing shop, Nguyen Thi Hoa must continue through a courtyard strewn with old dressers, water tanks, and coal-fired stoves to enter her apartment in Hanoi’s Old Quarter neighborhood. Behind the clothing store on Hang Dao Street, Hoa’s apartment is situated alongside five other cramped and dilapidated units in a long dark corridor. Altogether, nearly 30 people are living in the confined space. Hoa’s family is among several in the Old Quarter suffering miserably in the apartments. They are not allowed to upgrade their units or build new ones, in part because of state regulations on preserving the original elements of the Old Quarter. And a staggering 95 percent of the residential units in the neighborhood are in need of upgrades. Located in the capital’s Hoan Kiem District, the Old Quarter is famous for its ancient architecture and is considered the heart of Hanoi’s cultural beauty. Old streets with unique architecture, elaborately tiled buildings, and intricate alleyways form the foundation of the popular area. For local residents, however, the charm of the badly eroded infrastructure leaves something to be desired. The municipal People’s Committee lists 274 houses in the district which are to be preserved for cultural heritage reasons, but the phrasing of the directive indicates that no restorative work can be carried out either. The residents are thus left in the lurch. “I know it is not safe. But, we have no other choice but to stay here,” Hoa said. Her family has lived in a deteriorated apartment with leaking pipes for more than 40 years now. Within the 25-square-meter one-bedroom unit, Hoa’s six-member family has been forced to turn their corridor into a space for cooking and clothes drying. At night, the family sleeps together in what little space is left in the one main room. “Daily life is very inconvenient,” said Hoa. “There are three generations sharing this cramped space.” According to government statistics, housing space per capita in the Old Quarter stands at a mere one square meter, much lower than the 10 square meters per capita in Vietnam’s urban areas. Up to 20 percent of residents in the Old Quarter have no private kitchens, and more than half of all households in the area have five to six people sharing just one room. Yet, the neighborhood has one major draw which dissuades many residents from moving – it is the city’s busiest downtown trading area. “All of my family lives above our shop, so we can’t leave here although the house is very cramped,” said Nguyen Van Ba from Hang Bac Street. His 10-member family lives in a dark 40-square-meter house and is forced to share a toilet with three other households nearby. Nguyen Thi Toan, however, chooses to stay in the Old Quarter for different reasons. She doesn’t own a shop but her small home on Hang Ga Street has great sentimental value, she said. Four generations of Toan’s family have lived here and so despite the discomfort of the cramped space, she and her relatives stay. “We are acquainted with the way of life here, and don’t want to move,” she said. “Moreover, it is downtown, near good schools, good hospitals and big markets. The services are very convenient.” Better preservation laws needed While the government has recognized the value of preserving the architecture of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, complex and ambiguously worded laws fail to address many important issues. For instance, regulations stipulate that for some structures, the “status quo” must be strictly preserved. The phrasing therefore prohibits even necessary restorative work from being carried out. Hanoi’s municipal authorities have asked agencies to simplify procedures so that people can upgrade their homes while retaining the features of the homes’ cultural heritage. Officials have also requested that organizations accelerate work on construction, drainage and pavement systems in the area. A member of the Hanoi Management Board of Relics and Landscape said, “It is necessary to assess the status of relics, build scientific documents for each old street, assess the deformation of houses and streets, and consider residential and infrastructural factors before building a detailed preservation program.” Unable to wait for improvements to his Old Quarter residence, Nguyen Van Trung decided to move out of the area altogether in 2006. He purchased a small house in a suburban district outside the city. “I live in the new house but I keep the old one on Hang Luoc Street for my cosmetic products business,” he said However, in a country where per capita income hovers around US$1,000 a year, not everyone can afford a new house like Trung. One of his old neighbors on Hang Luoc Street was recently forced to expand his cramped apartment onto the building’s fourth floor by adding steel bars to make a small room for his two daughters. “It’s [not ideal], but it helps him battle the shrinking living space and gives the family more freedom,” said Trung. Reported by Bao Van