Hanoi aims to upgrade Dong Anh and Gia Lam to urban districts by early 2025, while Thanh Tri and Hoai Duc will achieve this status by the end of the year.

The center of Dong Anh rural district. Photo: Giang Huy/The Hanoi Times

The goal was highlighted in the city's latest plan to upgrade five rural districts of Dong Anh, Gia Lam, Thanh Tri, Hoai Duc, and Dan Phuong into urban districts.

Under the plan, the city requires these five districts to review their territorial organization to ensure that the administrative divisions meet the criteria of population size and land area set out in Resolution No.35 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, specifying the territorial organization of commune-level and district-level administrative divisions for the 2023-2030 period.

The districts of Dong Anh and Gia Lam have been tasked with collaborating with the Department of Internal Affairs and relevant units to complete the proposal documents and work with ministries for appraisal to submit the proposal for urban district establishment to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2024 or the first quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, Thanh Tri and Hoai Duc are expected to provide the necessary documents and data for assessing the criteria, as well as develop solutions to expedite the fulfillment of unmet criteria, to submit a proposal for the establishment of the rural district to the National Assembly Standing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Previously, the Dong Anh and Gia Lam district establishment proposals were approved by the city’s People's Council in 2023, with plans to submit them to the government and the National Assembly Standing Committee by the end of 2023. However, this timetable was later postponed.

Over the years, Hanoi has expanded from just four core districts—Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, and Hai Ba Trung—to a total of 12 districts with eight new districts added: Bac Tu Liem, Nam Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Ha Dong, Hoang Mai, Long Bien, Tay Ho, and Thanh Xuan.

According to regulations from the National Assembly Standing Committee, centrally administered cities must have a district ratio of at least 60% of the total number of district-level administrative units. This means that Hanoi needs at least 18 districts, but currently has only 12 districts, one town, and 17 rural districts, making up 43% of its urban administrative units.

The Hanoi Party Committee’s Program 04 on building new rural areas, in conjunction with restructuring the agricultural sector and developing rural economies, has set the goal of upgrading five rural districts (Hoai Duc, Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Thanh Tri, and Dan Phuong) to urban district status in 2021-2025, and three more (Thanh Oai, Thuong Tin, and Me Linh) in the 2026-2030 period.

Of the five districts to be upgraded to urban district status by 2025, Dong Anh is the largest, covering over 180 km² with a population of approximately 380,000, consisting of 23 communes and one town. Gia Lam follows with nearly 115 km² and a population of 280,000, encompassing 20 communes and two towns.

Hoai Duc covers an area of 82 km² and has a population of over 230,000, comprising 19 communes and one town. Dan Phuong spans more than 77 km² with a population of over 174,000, comprising 15 communes and one town. Thanh Tri, the smallest of Hanoi's 18 rural districts and towns, covers over 63 km² with a population of over 200,000, comprising 15 communes and one town.