Hanoi currently lacks gardens and playgrounds in residential areas, which has a serious effect on locals, especially children’s lifestyle and recreational need, experts said at a conference on the issue held on May 6.

According to Tran Ngoc Chinh, chair of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Developing Association, the reduction of parks and playgrounds in Hanoi is due to inadequate management by local authorities.

In many buildings constructed since the 1970s, yards were particularly focused. They were all spacious and quiet and included flowers and shady trees to provide residents with a recreation area to play, exercise and relax. These yards have gradually been destroyed, reduced and replaced by houses, walls, stores and food stalls, Chinh said.

Most yards are currently sandwiched between apartment buildings. The areas for gardens, parks and sport grounds are often eliminated and used for other purposes in order to increase density.

The remaining playgrounds in residential areas are damaged, unsanitary and have become unsafe for people, particularly children, to do recreational activities there, not to mention that most of them have been turned into parking areas or used to contain building materials.

Statistics shown at the conference also proved the lack of recreational areas for people in Hanoi, in which around 17,000 residents in Trung Phung Ward, of Dong Da District, share a playground of just 30 square meters.

Nguyen Thi Hien, a researcher from HealthBridge, an international, non-profit organization, said that areas for parks and gardens in the urban districts of Ha Noi only account for 1.92 per cent of the city’s total land area.

Hanoi authorities urgently need to check on the status and use of existing gardens and playgrounds in the area, and create a plan to redesign, renovate and upgrade them while enhancing management to eliminate improper use of these spaces, she suggested.

According to La Kim Ngan, director of the Institute of Architecture - Vietnam Association of Architects, the lack of public space indirectly forces children to play online games, wander on streets and hinders them from social communication.

For a long time, the city focused on developing buildings and apartments without paying enough attention to public places for local people, such as playgrounds or flower gardens, she explained.

The conference was jointly held in Hanoi on May 6 by the Vietnam Urban Planning and Developing Association, HealthBridge Canada in Vietnam, and The Asia Foundation.