According to the Project, Hanoi city will develop urban areas in 8 directions, associated with 9 development driving axes in the 100-year vision of the Capital Planning, prioritizing locations near major traffic routes and public transport hubs. Urban areas are oriented according to the model "living - working - enjoying local amenities", integrating synchronously housing, schools, health, commerce, services, urban logistics, public space and jobs for people.
The city sets a target to complete and put into operation 2-3 multi-purpose urban areas by 2030; at the same time, 100% of new urban areas must meet the criteria of smart cities. The project also prioritizes allocating land funds for social housing, resettlement housing, official housing and rental housing, to serve urban population expansion and key projects.
Lawyer, Master Pham Thanh Tuan - Hanoi Bar Association said that, in essence, the multi-purpose urban area is a pilot mechanism of the Capital's specific policies based on decentralization from the Central Government, according to Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for large and important projects in Hanoi and the Capital Law.
According to the orientation being studied, the multi-purpose urban area will develop according to a compact urban model, smart urban area, "living - working - enjoying local amenities". Each urban area is expected to have a minimum scale of about 150ha, and is synchronously planned. In the housing structure, social housing accounts for about 50-60%, the rest is affordable commercial housing.
According to lawyer Pham Thanh Tuan, this is a major change in real estate development thinking. Because for many years, urban area projects have mainly operated according to market mechanisms, while social housing usually accounts for only a small proportion, about 20% of the total residential land area. With the new model, social housing is placed at the center of the development structure.
Notably, the draft project introduces a profit control mechanism for commercial housing, according to which the profit of investors is controlled by a maximum of 15% of the total investment cost of building commercial housing. All costs, revenue and selling price plans must be appraised, even audited by management agencies before being put on the market. Thus, commercial housing in multi-purpose urban areas will no longer operate completely according to the free market mechanism as usual, thereby limiting speculative factors.
Commercial housing buyers are restricted from transferring for 3 years from the date of full payment. If transferred during this time, they are only allowed to resell to the investor at a price not exceeding the contract price. In the context of high house prices due to short-term speculation, this regulation is expected to contribute to controlling the price increase and bringing the market closer to real housing demand.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Dinh (Hanoi Bar Association) - real estate legal expert said that in fact, the real estate market is facing a serious shortage of social housing and resettlement housing funds. Meanwhile, the supply in the past time has been in the form of a "reverse pyramid", with a surplus of high-end products but a serious shortage in the mid-range and affordable segments.
According to him, the Multi-purpose Urban Area Project has fundamentally solved this problem by allocating more than 50% of the land fund for social housing, thereby helping to draw closer between supply and demand, limiting the situation of imbalance in the market.
In addition, lawyer Nguyen Van Dinh said that the regulation restricting the transfer of commercial housing for a period of 3 years brings many core benefits such as preventing the transformation of projects supported by the State into speculative products; ensuring housing reaches the right people with real needs and housing difficulties; and at the same time limiting unfair competition with ordinary commercial projects nearby.
