Hanoi plans future city with AI, TOD, 1,153 km metro network, smart urban transformation
Hanoi plans future city with AI, TOD, 1,153 km metro network, smart urban transformation
By VNA May 20, 2026 | 08:23 pm PTGet VnExpress first in Google Search
Hanoi's 100-year master plan is set to mold the capital into a "Smart – Green – Multi-polar – Multi-center" city, with artificial intelligence (AI), transit-oriented development (TOD), and a 1,153 km metro system serving as strategic growth pillars.
Previously, Hanoi ran two parallel planning frameworks, including capital planning under the 2017 Planning Law and a general capital plan under the 2024 Urban and Rural Planning Law. The duplication bred conflicts between socio-economic goals and spatial design, leaving traffic jams, flooding, and pollution unsolved and development resources squandered.
Under a National Assembly's Resolution granting pilot special mechanisms and policies to the city, Hanoi was authorized to merge both planning systems into a single integrated master plan, signed off by Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee on May 13, 2026.
The Red River landscape boulevard project. Photo by the Hanoi People’s Committee
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According to the master plan covering roughly 3,359.84 sq.km, the Red River will act as the primary ecological and cultural landscape spine.
Hanoi will pursue a "compact-green" growth model, densifying built-up areas while rigidly safeguarding green belts, green corridors, and ecological spaces.
The plan’s flagship proposal is a 1,153 km urban and inter-regional rail grid. Metro lines will link ring roads, radials, growth poles, and major urban centers, while knitting the capital more tightly with the surrounding Capital Region and Red River Delta.
The elevated tracks of The Nhon-Hanoi Station Metro Line. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy
TOD becomes the major urban development model in the new phase. Accordingly, zones around metro stations and key transport corridors will get higher density, taller buildings, and larger floor-area ratios to carve out compact, modern neighborhoods, free up green space, and capture land value for infrastructure reinvestment.
Hanoi intends to run the city on "digital twins" and AI, tackling urban problems in real time. A hard green pivot targets net-zero emissions: public transport will switch to clean energy, and circular-economy rules will govern waste and wastewater treatment.
Spatially, the Red River is identified as a green, cultural, and economic backbone. The city will study a "Heritage Road" on both banks, turning mid-river sandbanks and alluvial lands into large ecological parks and creative hubs, all while meeting flood control requirements.
Moreover, Hanoi will fast-track subterranean development in TOD zones with underground parking and multi-use infrastructure, targeting an underground utilization rate above 40% in the city core. It is also studying a phased rollout of the "low-altitude economy", paving the way for emerging technologies such as drone deliveries, medical logistics, and flying taxis.
The master plan further envisions new growth poles with breakthrough mechanisms, notably a free trade zone linked to the northern airport urban area in Dong Anh-Soc Son and a western sci-tech city in Hoa Lac. They are designed to spur innovation, relieve core-city crowding, and sharpen Hanoi's global edge.
The municipal People's Committee plans to announce the master plan in late June alongside the Hanoi investment promotion conference 2026.