New Secretary Nguyen Duy Ngoc and the problems that need solutions for the Capital

Hanoi - the national political and administrative center, where the quintessence of national culture converges and spreads, is facing great opportunities but also many challenges.

New expectations and the pressure of responsibility

The Politburo's assignment of the new Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee is not only a simple personnel matter but also demonstrates the Central Government's belief and expectation in the capital's innovation and stronger movement.

General Secretary To Lam presented the Politburo's decision to transfer and assign Mr. Nguyen Duy Ngoc to hold the position of Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee for the 18th term, 2025-2030. Photo: VNA

Hanoians expect a breath of fresh air in leadership thinking, management style, and the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, and daring to take responsibility. Because Hanoi is not only a densely populated area but also the “face” of Vietnam in the eyes of international friends. Every step forward or stagnation in Hanoi has a strong impact on the psychology and confidence of the people of the whole country.

Therefore, the challenges facing the new leader are enormous. Slow improvement of traffic infrastructure, air pollution, localized flooding during heavy rains, hundreds of projects suspended for many years… are all “bottlenecks” that are hindering the development of the capital.

If these issues are resolved, Hanoi will change its face; otherwise, all slogans of modern - green - smart development will remain just promises.

The problem of reducing traffic congestion and opening up traffic for development

Nothing makes the people of the capital more tired than traffic jams. Hours of jostling and inching along during rush hour on main roads such as Lang, Nguyen Trai, Giai Phong, Truong Chinh... have become a daily nightmare.

Although the city has made many efforts to expand, renew, and invest tens of thousands of billions of VND in beltways, urban railways, tunnels, and overpasses, the results have not met expectations. The reasons lie in the speed of increasing motor vehicles, lack of synchronous urban planning, slow relocation of agencies, universities, and hospitals out of the inner city, and low traffic awareness of a part of the population.

Traffic jams during rush hour have become a daily nightmare for the capital's residents. Photo: Thach Thao

The new Secretary of Hanoi must work with the City Party Committee and People's Committee to find a fundamental solution to this problem: Re-planning urban space, speeding up the progress of metro lines, increasing public transport, limiting personal vehicles according to a clear roadmap, and applying smart traffic management technology.

Reducing traffic congestion is not only the task of the transport sector but also the task of the entire system - from planning, construction to people's awareness. When traffic is smooth, labor productivity, quality of life, and investment environment will all be improved.

Pollution and flooding - the "inherent pain" of the capital

A heavy rain is enough to turn many streets in Hanoi into “rivers”. The drainage system is old, the planning cannot keep up with the speed of urbanization, many reservoirs are filled in, underground sewers are clogged - all of which make the problem of flood prevention always in a state of “firefighting”.

Along with that, air pollution is often at alarming levels. Fine dust, vehicle exhaust, garbage burning, unprotected construction… have caused Hanoi to be at the top of the list of the most polluted cities in the world for many days.

City leaders need to consider this a non-traditional security issue, not only an environmental issue but also related to the health of millions of current and future residents.

The solution must be comprehensive: Protecting and expanding green space, strictly handling industrial emission sources, tightly controlling waste burning, increasing the proportion of trees and water surfaces, relocating polluting production facilities from the inner city... Those will certainly be feasible solutions.

Many streets in Hanoi often turn into rivers after heavy rains. Photo: The Bang

In particular, the city needs to innovate the coordination mechanism between departments and branches such as Transport - Construction - Natural Resources and Environment - Planning, to avoid the situation of "each doing their own thing", causing waste and inefficiency.

Hanoi can learn from the experience of many Asian cities that were once heavily polluted but successfully transformed, such as Seoul or Bangkok, by synchronizing urban planning with environmental planning, developing "sponge cities" - cities that can "absorb water" and "breathe".

The problem of urban beautification - restoring beauty to the capital of a thousand years of civilization

One of the things that makes people and tourists regret is that the appearance of the capital in many places is "devastated" by haphazard construction, messy advertising, tangled electric wires, and deformed facades of the old streets. Hanoi needs a strong, comprehensive renovation to both preserve its identity and create a modern, civilized appearance.

Urban renewal is not just about re-paving sidewalks or repainting facades, but also about recreating public spaces, rearranging urban order, and restoring beauty to the streets. The walking streets around Hoan Kiem Lake, Trinh Cong Son Street, or soon the area around Son Tay Citadel have shown new vitality when urban spaces are reorganized properly.

Hanoi has all the conditions to become a “city of trees, lakes and light”, where people can be proud of their living landscape. But to do so, it requires a long-term vision, not “fragmented by term”, and high determination in implementation.

The problem of removing backlog projects - freeing up resources

According to statistics, in Hanoi there are currently hundreds of projects suspended, delayed or abandoned for many years. Many prime land areas are wasted while people cannot build or renovate their houses because of planning problems. This is a sign of great waste of resources and development opportunities.

The new Secretary of Hanoi needs to direct a review of all slow-moving projects, publicly and transparently list the reasons and the handling roadmap. Any capable projects should be extended; any projects that violate the law should be rescinded.

At the same time, it is necessary to strongly reform investment procedures, construction licensing, and land auctions to avoid "circular administration" that discourages businesses and makes investors hesitant.

When land resources and social capital are unlocked, Hanoi will have more motivation to achieve major goals: building smart cities, developing social housing, investing in transport infrastructure, and providing high-quality public services.

Hanoi must change and accelerate

For Hanoi to transform and accelerate, the core is to change the way of working and the management mindset. The new Secretary cannot do it alone but must arouse the sense of responsibility and the capacity to act in the entire political system, from the City Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee to wards and communes; it is necessary to build a culture of "saying and doing", "doing things thoroughly", tightening discipline and administrative discipline, strictly handling stagnant, evasive and shirking officials.

At the same time, the new Party Secretary must mobilize the people's strength, considering the people and businesses as companion partners, service objects, not simply administrative management objects. When people see the government's determination and transparency, they will be ready to support, cooperate, and contribute their intelligence and resources for common development.

Vision for the Capital to develop strongly

From now until 2030, Hanoi aims to become a "green - smart - modern" city, a creative center of Southeast Asia, and a global city by 2045.

To achieve this goal, the city's leadership, especially the new City Party Secretary, must be the "political core", leading the city's political system to operate effectively, while creating breakthroughs in three areas: institutions, infrastructure and human resources.

A sustainable Hanoi is not only a city with high economic growth but also a place worth living. It is a place where people can breathe fresh air, travel conveniently, enjoy good public services, and be proud of its culture, history and identity.

The problems of traffic jams, pollution, flooding, urban planning, and handling of backlogged projects are not easy to solve. However, with determination, innovative thinking, persistent action, and the consensus of the people, Hanoi can completely transform and accelerate.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tan-bi-thu-nguyen-duy-ngoc-va-nhung-bai-toan-can-loi-giai-cho-thu-do-2459406.html