Photo: Typical works of Hanoi after 15 years of expansion

After 15 years of administrative boundary expansion, Hanoi's appearance has changed a lot with many constructions and routes connecting to the old Ha Tay.

On August 1, 2008, Hanoi expanded its administrative boundaries according to Resolution No. 15 of the 12th National Assembly. Since then, the capital has had many new constructions. A typical example is the National Assembly building located on Doc Lap Street, Ba Dinh District, which opened in October 2014 with the first meeting of the 8th session of the 13th National Assembly.

After 10 years, the National Assembly building is still a special architectural work, large in scale, and a symbol of the highest state power agency. The building is 39 m high with 5 floors above ground, 3 basements, a floor area of 60,000 m2, square design, and a circular central meeting room.

In November 2021, Cat Linh - Ha Dong , the first urban railway line in the capital, began commercial operation, connecting the city center with Ha Dong district (formerly Ha Dong city, Ha Tay province).

After nearly 2 years of operation, the Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway has gradually become a popular means of public transport with more than 32,000 passengers per day. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, this route transported more than 2.65 million passengers, an increase of 262% over the same period in 2022.

With an investment of more than 7,000 billion VND, Thang Long Avenue is currently the longest in Vietnam with more than 29 km, an average width of 140 m, starting point is Trung Hoa intersection and ending point is Hoa Lac intersection.

The project opened to traffic in October 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, connecting the 600,000-population satellite city of Hoa Lac with the center of Hanoi.

The median strip and the Thang Long Avenue service road have many types of trees such as: pink apricot, white mai, jasmine, hibiscus, banana flower, wall vine, yellow muong hoa, Indian chrysanthemum... Planting many layers of trees helps prevent soil erosion, block dust, reduce noise, and improve air quality.

After 3 years of construction, on December 25, 2014, Terminal T2 with a capacity of 15 million passengers/year was inaugurated to solve the overload of Terminal T1, creating a new look for Noi Bai International Airport.

Vo Nguyen Giap Road connects Noi Bai International Airport with the center of the capital, is 12 km long, passing through Dong Anh and Soc Son districts. The project was inaugurated in early 2015, with a total investment of more than 6,740 billion VND.

With a maximum speed of 90 km/h and 10 two-way lanes, Vo Nguyen Giap Street has helped reduce the travel time from Noi Bai to the center of Hanoi to only 30 minutes.

Hanoi Museum was inaugurated in 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi. The project was designed by the German GMP Company, inspired by the One Pillar Pagoda, shaped like a lotus flower, including 4 floors above ground and 2 basements. The first floor has doors opening in 4 directions to welcome air from 4 directions with the meaning of 4 directions converging on the Capital - the land of Thang Long - Hanoi with a thousand years of culture.

In 2016, the Hanoi Museum building was voted by Business Insider magazine (USA) as one of the 36 most beautiful museums in the world . It currently holds more than 70,000 documents and artifacts of many materials.

After 15 years of expansion, Hanoi has more urban areas and high-rise buildings, helping to increase the housing area for people. From Nguyen Chi Thanh Street towards the southwest of the capital, a series of buildings are built close together.

Nhat Tan is currently the largest cable-stayed bridge in Vietnam, built in 2009 with a total investment of more than 13,620 billion VND. The bridge has 5 diamond-shaped towers and 6 cable-stayed spans, starting at Phu Thuong ward, Tay Ho district to the end point at the intersection with National Highway 5, Vinh Ngoc commune, Dong Anh district.

The project was inaugurated in January 2015, synchronized with Nhat Tan - Noi Bai road.