Cars park on the street - Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - In frontof the headquarter of the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture on TrangThi Street, dozens of motorbikes and cars stop, wait for a while, look around,hoping against hope that by some miracle a parking space will materialise.
The department’s yard is jam packed with employees’ vehicles,leaving visitors to park elsewhere, often on nearby pavements.
This system worked, more or less, although pedestrians were oftenforced to walk on the shoulder of the road, until about a month ago whenauthorities launched a campaign to clear up the sidewalks of parked cars andsidewalk cafes and beer joints. Business owners have since been complaining oflosing customers who cannot find parking.
Tran Thi Le, a souvenir shop in the tourist-magnet of Hoan Kiem district,said she totally supports the city’s pavement clearance campaign, however,authorised agencies must reconsider the planning and legalise parking toaddress local demands and support business owners.
Hanoi’s police data shows 5.5 million vehicles in the city,including five million motorbikes and half a million cars. This figure growsmonthly by about 28,000 - 20,000 motorbikes and 8,000 cars.
According to a survey conducted by the Tien Phong (Vanguard)newspaper, 178 legal public parking lots operate in the city and are permittedto collect parking fees.
However, the newspaper also pointed out that these lots only meetless than 10 percent of the parking demand by locals. More than 80 percent ofvehicles, equivalent to 4.9 million vehicles, are thus parked illegally onstreets, alleys or around apartment buildings.
The saga parking began when the city had far fewer vehicles. Fouryears ago, in 2013, the Government issued Decree No 100, a stop-gap measureallowing parts of the pavements in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City can beutilised for parking. But two conditions apply - the street must have two lanesfor motorised vehicles and one lane for non-motorised ones and a 1.5m-widestrip of pavement must be left for pedestrians.
A representative of the Transport Development and StrategyInstitute told Tien Phong that 50 per cent of the streets in Hanoinow have the required pavement width to qualify for parking under Decree 100conditions. However, vehicles still park on other streets with narrowersidewalks, leaving no room for pedestrians.
In 2003, Hanoi authorities approved a plan for a network of publicparking lots in the city, stipulating that parking spaces must make up two to3.5 percent of urban construction land, compared to the existing 0.1 percent.
Fourteen years on, a representative of Hanoi’s Transport Departmentconfessed to Tien Phong that the project was a flop and thatinstead of setting aside space for vehicles, the allocated land plots wereturned into skyscraper and shopping mall projects.
A 1,400 sq.m lot at the intersection of the city’s Hai Bà Trung-HangBai streets, for example, was planned to house a multiple-floor parking space,replacing parking areas on the streets of Hai Ba Trung, Ham Long, Hang Trongand Ba Trieu. Instead, a huge complex comprising a high-end trade centre,offices and apartments occupied the space.
Local authorities added a list of 50 parking lots to be built from2011 to 2015, including 24 areas that were planned for completion by 2013-14.Most of the contractors have since gone bankrupt or managed to shift thepurpose of the land.
Learning from failures, the heads of the Hanoi People’s Committeeassigned the Construction Planning Institute, municipal Departmentof Transport and relevant agencies to review the old planning andprepare new planning for a network of bus stations and parking areas in Hanoiuntil 2030, with a vision to 2050, as a long-term solution. The detailedplanning will be discussed by experts and local authorities of 30 districts andtowns before being submitted to city authorities.
The city also assigned the Department of Transport toprepare mechanisms for the urgent construction of parking spaces, includingfive underground parking lots.
Tran Duc Hoat, deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Planningand Investment, said that such mechanisms serve as a decisive factor to attractenterprises to parking lot investment and assist them with payback.
Three such mechanisms already approved are allowing businesses toown or sell up to 30 per cent of constructed parking areas, collecting parkingfees and reducing land-use tax, he said.-VNA
The department’s yard is jam packed with employees’ vehicles,leaving visitors to park elsewhere, often on nearby pavements.
This system worked, more or less, although pedestrians were oftenforced to walk on the shoulder of the road, until about a month ago whenauthorities launched a campaign to clear up the sidewalks of parked cars andsidewalk cafes and beer joints. Business owners have since been complaining oflosing customers who cannot find parking.
Tran Thi Le, a souvenir shop in the tourist-magnet of Hoan Kiem district,said she totally supports the city’s pavement clearance campaign, however,authorised agencies must reconsider the planning and legalise parking toaddress local demands and support business owners.
Hanoi’s police data shows 5.5 million vehicles in the city,including five million motorbikes and half a million cars. This figure growsmonthly by about 28,000 - 20,000 motorbikes and 8,000 cars.
According to a survey conducted by the Tien Phong (Vanguard)newspaper, 178 legal public parking lots operate in the city and are permittedto collect parking fees.
However, the newspaper also pointed out that these lots only meetless than 10 percent of the parking demand by locals. More than 80 percent ofvehicles, equivalent to 4.9 million vehicles, are thus parked illegally onstreets, alleys or around apartment buildings.
The saga parking began when the city had far fewer vehicles. Fouryears ago, in 2013, the Government issued Decree No 100, a stop-gap measureallowing parts of the pavements in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City can beutilised for parking. But two conditions apply - the street must have two lanesfor motorised vehicles and one lane for non-motorised ones and a 1.5m-widestrip of pavement must be left for pedestrians.
A representative of the Transport Development and StrategyInstitute told Tien Phong that 50 per cent of the streets in Hanoinow have the required pavement width to qualify for parking under Decree 100conditions. However, vehicles still park on other streets with narrowersidewalks, leaving no room for pedestrians.
In 2003, Hanoi authorities approved a plan for a network of publicparking lots in the city, stipulating that parking spaces must make up two to3.5 percent of urban construction land, compared to the existing 0.1 percent.
Fourteen years on, a representative of Hanoi’s Transport Departmentconfessed to Tien Phong that the project was a flop and thatinstead of setting aside space for vehicles, the allocated land plots wereturned into skyscraper and shopping mall projects.
A 1,400 sq.m lot at the intersection of the city’s Hai Bà Trung-HangBai streets, for example, was planned to house a multiple-floor parking space,replacing parking areas on the streets of Hai Ba Trung, Ham Long, Hang Trongand Ba Trieu. Instead, a huge complex comprising a high-end trade centre,offices and apartments occupied the space.
Local authorities added a list of 50 parking lots to be built from2011 to 2015, including 24 areas that were planned for completion by 2013-14.Most of the contractors have since gone bankrupt or managed to shift thepurpose of the land.
Learning from failures, the heads of the Hanoi People’s Committeeassigned the Construction Planning Institute, municipal Departmentof Transport and relevant agencies to review the old planning andprepare new planning for a network of bus stations and parking areas in Hanoiuntil 2030, with a vision to 2050, as a long-term solution. The detailedplanning will be discussed by experts and local authorities of 30 districts andtowns before being submitted to city authorities.
The city also assigned the Department of Transport toprepare mechanisms for the urgent construction of parking spaces, includingfive underground parking lots.
Tran Duc Hoat, deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Planningand Investment, said that such mechanisms serve as a decisive factor to attractenterprises to parking lot investment and assist them with payback.
Three such mechanisms already approved are allowing businesses toown or sell up to 30 per cent of constructed parking areas, collecting parkingfees and reducing land-use tax, he said.-VNA
VNA
