ECOPARK

Hanoi is the political capital of Vietnam. With the government driving much of the country’s economic activity, job creation, and employment policy, there is no question why Hanoi is growing rapidly. Each year, the city’s population increases by slightly more than one percent, adding nearly 500,000 people who come from rural areas to Hanoi in search of jobs and improved livelihoods (Source). While this migration spurs economic growth and the sharing of ideas, an increasing population also means more crowded and dangerous roads, a bigger drain on valuable living resources like water and electricity, and increased consumption resulting in littered streets, dirty air, and general pollution. Residents living and working in Hanoi seek a sustainable alternative.

In May of 2011, Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Firm launched a new project on the outskirts of Hanoi, across the Red River, near a small town called Bat Trang Village. The project was planned to be the first residential community to follow the ecosystem living model, which would give residents access to nature through parks and open living spaces, and access to sustainable living necessities such as transportation, schools, shopping centers, and tourism sites. The project was called Ecopark.

This project would give some Hanoi residents access to highly sought-out clean air, purified water, and good living conditions near Hanoi. To live away from the pollution, however, means to live away from the city; and from the beginning Ecopark faced a challenge to convince residents to occupy an area that was so far away from the center of Hanoi. To overcome this issue Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Firm had to give the people of Hanoi something that they had never seen before.