Hanoi's simultaneous commencement of 5 urban railway lines with a total investment of more than 1.3 million billion VND has attracted great attention from the market. However, what is noteworthy is not only the scale of investment or the speed of transport infrastructure development but also how these projects can reshape urban structure, space usage behavior and long-term investment prospects.
In recent years, the concept of transport-oriented urban development (TOD) has been mentioned more and more. This model aims to develop urban areas integrating housing, commerce, services and public spaces around public transport hubs, thereby optimizing connectivity and infrastructure utilization.
In many countries around the world, TOD is not simply seen as a transportation solution. This is a method of reorganizing urban space, creating conditions for the formation of new economic centers, while promoting investment and real estate development in a more sustainable direction. In Vietnam, this model is also seen as a planning tool to optimize land funds, orienting urban development that is becoming increasingly crowded.
For many years, transportation infrastructure has often been seen through its ability to improve connectivity and reduce travel time. However, in many cities around the world, the role of infrastructure is expanding beyond mere transportation functions.
The Savills Impacts – Resilient Cities 2026 report points out that cities with high competitiveness not only invest in hard infrastructure but also focus on building a living environment, improving the quality of urban experiences and creating conditions for more vibrant economic activities. The report noted many notable examples such as Dubai developing Expo City into a new center for business, events and tourism; Abu Dhabi investing heavily in cultural areas; Madrid upgrading its service ecosystem to serve international tourists; or Seoul focusing on improving the quality of public space and urban experiences.
The common point of these models is that public infrastructure is used as a tool to increase the attractiveness of the city, while supporting the formation of new activity centers and promoting the level of use of existing areas. As accessibility is improved, people and tourists tend to spend more time on shopping, entertainment, culture, cuisine and service experiences. This is an approach to connect transportation with economic activities and urban experiences in the same development space.
According to Ms. Nguyen Le Dung - Head of Investment Consulting Department, Savills Hanoi, investors are increasingly interested in factors that help a city maintain its attractiveness in the long term instead of just focusing on short-term growth.
TOD is an example showing that infrastructure can play a greater role than simple transportation. When connectivity is improved and economic, cultural, and service activities develop together around it, the city will create more utility value in the same urban space. This is also an important foundation to strengthen competitiveness and attract investment flows in the future," Ms. Dung said.
In fact, one of the biggest challenges of investment activities is not in identifying opportunities, but in the ability to assess whether demand can be maintained in the next 10 to 20 years or not. Therefore, when cities announce development orientations associated with metro systems, public spaces and new operating centers, investors have more basis to monitor how people, business operations and market demand can shift over time.
This is also a signal showing how cities are preparing the foundation for the next growth stage, where infrastructure, urban experiences and economic activities are shaped in the same long-term development strategy.
