Change of urban appearance
Early in the morning, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai (68 years old, living on Hoang Hoa Tham street) no longer has to follow the iron fence to find the entrance to Bach Thao Park as before. From the sidewalk, she walks straight into the park.
Previously, to get into the park, I had to go quite far. Now it's all open like this, I just need to cross the road to get into the park to exercise. The viewing space is also more airy and closer," Ms. Mai said.
Sharing the same feeling, Mr. Tran Minh Tuan (32 years old, Ba Dinh ward) said that lowering the fence helps the park truly become a public space, making it easier for people to access.
According to Ba Dinh Ward People's Committee, in phase 1, the ward will remove the iron fence with concrete pillars separating Bach Thao Park and most of Hoang Hoa Tham street; dismantle all existing iron gates, retain the pillar system and gate architecture to make space identification markers as well as park identification images.
At the positions on both sides of the auxiliary entrance at the park gate, they are kept open or arranged with banner frames, panels and information boards to serve propaganda, guidance and event organization when necessary, ensuring flexibility in space management and use without affecting the openness and overall aesthetics of the park.
Recently, Indira Gandhi Park (Giang Vo ward) was also dismantled of the entire fence system to form an open space. After the fence was dismantled, the park space became airy, directly connected to neighboring streets, helping people easily access from many different directions.
At the end of 2025, Hai Ba Trung ward said that it had completed the removal of nearly 1,200m of the last fence at Thong Nhat Park, the section on Dai Co Viet and Nguyen Dinh Chieu streets, turning this place into the first park in the city to lower the entire fence, opening up a clear space, convenient connection for people and tourists.
According to residents, lowering fences in parks in the city not only creates convenience in daily life but also contributes to changing the urban appearance, towards a more open, friendly and livable Hanoi.
Enhance publicity
Representatives of Thong Nhat Park One Member Limited Liability Company said that after removing the fence, Thong Nhat Park recorded an increase in the number of visitors from 20 to 30% compared to before, including many foreign visitors.
However, when partially removing the park fence, management work is quite difficult due to the situation that some people lack awareness of driving motorbikes and bicycles straight from outside the road into the park. Faced with this situation, the unit has had to coordinate with functional agencies to strengthen the management of park area order.
In addition, strengthen security forces and lighting systems to ensure security and order, and at the same time raise awareness and promote propaganda for people to participate in ensuring security and order.
According to architect Tran Huy Anh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Hanoi Association of Architects, the removal of fences in parks is completely correct and needs to be implemented synchronously throughout the city. "Parks need to be designed to blend with streets so that people can easily access them. At that time, green space will spread, creating a barrier-free environment, enhancing publicity for society" - Mr. Anh emphasized.
The architect believes that fences will create a feeling of division, making the park a "closed" space, while the essence of an urban park is to serve the community, encourage people to participate in outdoor activities and connect with the surrounding space.
Comparing with countries around the world, architect Anh said that most parks do not have fences. In some special cases, fences or walls are retained due to architectural and historical values, or to protect specialized areas such as botanical gardens, rare tree relic areas, and even greenhouses. However, those are only isolated areas, not a common approach to the entire park.
Regarding terrain design, many countries also try to reduce hills and height differences to create a flat surface favorable for pedestrians. The general spirit is still to reduce barriers, both tangible and intangible, so that parks are truly community spaces" - Architect Tran Huy Anh shared.
Faced with concerns about disorder and difficulty controlling bad actors, the architect believes that the core issue is not whether there are fences or not, but the responsibility of the management unit. According to him, if management is effective, open park space will still ensure order, safety and properly promote its role as a public space serving the community.
