The Hanoi People’s Committee will open a new pedestrian zone around Thien Quang Lake in Hai Ba Trung District, the fourth of its kind in the city, to bolster cultural values and develop tourism in the area.

The pedestrian zone encompassing parts of Tran Nhan Tong Street and Quang Trung Street (from Thien Quang Lake to Tran Binh Trong Street) and the surrounding areas, together with Thong Nhat Park, will form a large walking area on about 1.1 ha of land, including 0.48 ha of water surface.

A green space around Thien Quang Lake in Hanoi’s downtown district of Hai Ba Trung. Photo: Tien Tuan

To carry out the project, Hai Ba Trung's authorities are tasked with organizing community consultations to obtain the consensus of residents. In addition, the district must develop a plan to reorganize traffic and parking.

Previously, Hanoi's third pedestrian zone around Son Tay Citadel was opened on National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day.

Hanoi's first pedestrian space around Hanoi Kiem Lake opened in 2004, covering only five streets. As of January 1, 2021, it has been expanded to cover a much larger area, including 20 streets around the iconic Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter.

It initially aimed at encouraging people to walk instead of gluing themselves to the motorbike seat, creating spaces for community activities, and fostering trade, services, tourism, and cultural exchange.

Meanwhile, Tay Ho is the second district that has pedestrianized its streets. Trinh Cong Son Street (almost a kilometer, which runs from the Lac Long Quan crossing) was closed to traffic on weekends for pedestrians and night activities in May 2018. The street is a tribute to the late musician Trinh Cong Son, a celebrated Vietnamese musician, songwriter, painter, and poet.

In 2016, Thanh Xuan district planned to pedestrianize streets for night and trade services. The street in question, Nguyen Quy Duc Street is expected to become a weekend walking space in early 2017; however, the date has been postponed, and little progress for this scheme has been made so far.

In April 2022, Hanoi made a plan to open another walking space around the Ngoc Khanh Lake in Ba Dinh District, according to which the project titled “Business service quarter and walking street around Ngoc Khanh Lake” will span around 12 ha, including 36,000 sq.m around the lake and 3,800 sq.m of a garden on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Ngoc Khanh Ward. The renovation of the adjoining areas to realize the project was to be carried out from the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the proposal of Ba Dinh District.