Housing and Urban Poverty in Viet Nam

When nations go from a planned to a market economy, the transformation may provide immediate benefits to some social classes, but often at the expense of the poorest groups in society, both in rural and urban areas. In Viet Nam, the living conditions of millions of government pensioners and public enterprise employees have declined since 1986, due to economic restructuring, cuts in social services, and the privatization of public enterprises that accompanied the country's doi moi policy, which opened doors to foreign capital.

"The issue for us wasn't how to identify the poor in Viet Nam, but those who were most rapidly becoming poorer," says René Parenteau, a professor at the University of Montreal's Institute of Urban Planning who, in cooperation with four Vietnamese institutions, has just completed a comprehensive study on housing and urban poverty in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Their study is the basis for La pauvreté urbaine au Viet Nam, a new publication scheduled for release in August 1997 by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Karthala, a French publishing house. An English version of the book will be available later.

Touring Asian cities

With help from IDRC and the University of Montreal, specialists from the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Schools of Architecture, Viet Nam's Rural and Urban Planning Institute, and the National Social Sciences Centre visited some of Asia's major cities: Manila, Singapore, Djakarta and Bangkok. "First they wanted to understand what was going on outside their own country," explains Dr. Parenteau, who has visited Viet Nam 40 times. "They toured various urban sites and discussed public housing with experienced NGO and government officials."

Back in Viet Nam, the first challenge was to determine the true nature of the urban environment they intended to improve — a task made all the more difficult by a lack of field data. The team began by identifying nine representative sites in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The results surprised even the Vietnamese specialists, who discovered that the total population of the 1,158 households interviewed was 20,844 — an average of 18 individuals per household.

Overcrowded living space

In Hanoi, data were gathered in the old downtown quarters, where buildings were converted into multifamily dwellings in the 1950s. The researchers found that living space in the overpopulated units is only two square metres per person — one of the lowest in the world — and is organized with groups, not individuals, in mind. "Sometimes you have to cut through two rooms, each inhabited by a different family, to get to the communal kitchen," says Dr. Parenteau, who believes it is possible to rearrange the living spaces to give each individual more room.

Another problem was the lack of indoor toilets. So the architects and urban planners suggested adding communal facilities behind the buildings to contain all the necessary plumbing without damaging the bearing walls. This would preserve the architectural character of the old colonial structures, which have intrinsic heritage and tourism value.

Shantytown conditions

In Ho Chi Minh City, the researchers collected a variety of data on shantytown living conditions and evaluated municipal rehabilitation policies for these areas, which are largely inhabited by illegal residents, who arrive from rural areas without authorization. The usual approach is to evict these people and relocate them in the countryside — since 1975, two million illegals have been evicted. However, the team recommended that municipal authorities allow illegal residents to remain where they are. "We noticed that all of the relocated populations have suffered major negative impacts such as job losses and a breakdown in their social fabric. These people participate in the city's economy: they're an asset, not a burden," says Dr. Parenteau.

Researchers from the Rural and Urban Planning Institute also conducted an in-depth analysis of Viet Nam's proposed Urban Development Act and a review of existing housing policies. Their recommendations highlight the problems faced by the most disadvantaged segments of the population. These groups include widows and war casualties; illegal residents (in Hanoi alone, 300,000 rural youth arrive annually to look for work); former civil servants and other public employees (who have lost the right to live in multifamily housing); single mothers; and returnees from Eastern Europe who had been paying off the Viet Nam government's war debt to the "fellow peoples" of the former Soviet Union.

Recommendations

As a result of this research, the Vietnamese participants have recommended that the Ministry of Construction amend the Housing Act, says Dr. Parenteau. "For example, they suggest providing support to NGOs working in the field, a bank for the urban poor, and a number of projects targeting the poorest of the poor, including accommodation for young transients."

André Lachance is a writer based in Montréal.

Dang To Tuan, Université d'architecture d'Hanoi, Nguyen Trai, Tran Xuan, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Tel: 844-854-1616

Tran Khang, Université d'architecture de Ho Chi Minh-Ville, 196 rue Pasteur, District #3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Tel: 844-822-2748

René Parenteau, Institut d'urbanisme, Universite de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montré al, Quebec, H3C 3J7; Tel: (514) 434-6495; Fax: (514) 343-2338; E-mail: parenteau@ere.umontreal.ca

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Links to explore ...

Related IDRC articles and publications:

Housing Solutions for Vietnam's Cities, by Daniel Girard

Vietnam's Shift to a Market System, by Jennifer Pepall

Assessment of Social Policy Reform

Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies Initiative (MIMAP)

Social Sector Decentralization: The Case of Vietnam

Additional resources:

An Overview of the Housing and Urban Development Sector in Vietnam

Hanoi Keeping Close Eye on Development

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Updated April 25, 1997. Please send your comments to editor of Reports.