Hanoi has opened 72 public parking lots, but this is far below the planned total of 1,620, according to Nguyen Phi Thuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Transport.

A sidewalk parking lot in Hoan Kiem District. Photo: VGP

At a recent meeting to discuss Hanoi's voter petitions, Thuong said that the remaining parking lots are still in the investment preparation stage and face many challenges, with the biggest being the lack of cleared land.

The city's urban planning set aside 3-4% of the land area for parking infrastructure, but so far less than 1% of the area has been used for parking. The ratio of transport land to total urban construction land in Hanoi is only 12%, half of the 20-26% target set by the central government for the capital's transport planning.

"This has led to a severe shortage of parking spaces, resulting in indiscriminate parking: in vacant lots, on the roadbed, and on sidewalks," he said, noting that the number of private vehicles in Hanoi is growing by 4.5% annually, with about eight million motorcycles and 1.5 million cars currently.

The Transportation Department is tasked to adjust land use plans (including metro and parking) after the city's overall master plan is approved. The agency's move aims to standardize policies to attract investors, Thuong stressed.

Investment projects related to parking are reviewed by the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment (HDPI) while the Department of Transportation decentralizes the management of parking lots to district authorities, who are tasked with monitoring unimplemented projects in their areas.

HDPI Director Le Anh Quan said during the event that low commercial service rates and high land use costs have made parking less appealing to investors. Therefore, the Planning Department is working with the municipal transport authority to develop an investment portfolio with favorable conditions to attract foreign investors and promote private investment. 

According to Duong Duc Tuan, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, the city will aggressively decentralize implementation to district authorities while speeding up the planning of parking spaces, including underground parking.