Behind "successful" land acquisition : a case study of the Van Quan new urban area project in Hanoi, Vietnam

The transition to a market economy has sparked Vietnam's unprecedented urbanization and industrialization. In order to accommodate the spiraling land demand triggered by urban and economic growth, the Vietnamese government has been using the mechanism of compulsory acquisition at an astounding scale to convert massive amount of agricultural land to urban land for non-agricultural uses. A large number of the country's poorest, most vulnerable citizens have been forced out of their land to make way for development projects, yet, they are also the group that have least benefited from them. Compulsory acquisition has therefore been the fundamental cause of social conflicts. The growing public resistance against compulsory acquisition makes consolidating land the most difficult step in the housing development process, and one that is frequently beset with disputes and negotiation impasse, causing significant project delays. This thesis examines the dynamics behind the site clearance process for the 62-hectare Van Quan new urban area project, a state-led urban housing development project conducted by a state-owned developer, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD). Given the sizable scale of the project, it is expected that site clearance would be particularly long and arduous. Yet, HUD was able to complete land acquisition within 6 months. The thesis aims to understand why the Van Quan project had such a rapid site clearance process despite its scale and complexity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Bui, Phuong Anh, M. C. P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Annette M. Kim.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49691

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/49691