LookAtVietnam – Dormitories will be designed in such a way that they will not only ensure a good living environment, but they can also be turned into houses for low-income earners.

The Hanoi Construction Department’s Deputy Director Nguyen Quoc Tuan

Dan tri: These are the three biggest-ever dormitory projects in Hanoi. Were there any problems in finding places for and implementing the projects?

It has been really difficult to implement the projects, because until now, we still do not have the urban programming of Hanoi. Meanwhile, the university programming which the Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Construction and Hanoi authorities to do has not been completed yet.

Dan tri: The new dormitories will be located in Phap Van- Tu Hiep area, My Dinh and Xuan Dinh-Co Nhue, which are far from universities. Do you think that it is reasonable to set up dormitories in these areas?

Nguyen Quoc Tuan: Of course, it is most ideal to set up dormitories right on universities’ campuses. However, in the current conditions, it is impossible to do that. We need another solution, which may not be the optimum one, but it can ensure enough rooms for students.

The places which have been chosen for dormitories are not too far from universities. They are located near public transportation and main routes which will allow students to easily travel to universities.

Dan tri: But wouldn’t students rather stay in nearby rented rooms than in dormitories which are far from universities?

Tuan: If we provide students with dormitories with suitable living and learning environments, with good services and reasonable rent, students will surely choose to live in dormitories.

I believe that the rent will be reasonable, because these dormitories will not be run for commercial purposes. They will only collect leasing fees to cover maintenance expenses and keep dormitories in normal operation.

Dormitories will be designed to have public services and cafeterias as well. Moreover, they may also have washing machines and Internet for students’ use.

The city’s authorities have also thought of organising bus routes linking dormitories to the inner city to allow students to travel more easily and safely.

Dan tri: In a recent meeting between the city’s leaders and local universities, one of the mentioned issues was the turning of students’ dormitories into houses for low-income earners. Will you consider this when implementing the projects?

Tuan: The Hanoi Architect Programming Department has shown a design of dormitories which can be converted into houses. Every dormitory room is expected to have eight students (32 square metres). When students do not live there anymore, two rooms can be made into one flat with a toilet and kitchen.

As I said above, there are two unknowns. We do not have Hanoi development programming and university programming. In the future, it may happen that the dormitories will be too far from universities. If so, the most reasonable solution is to sell dormitories to turn them into houses for low-income earners and get money to build other dormitories for students.

VietNamNet/DT