Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Committee has approved a projectto upgrade the capital’s old railway station and surrounding areas into aJapanese-style modern urban depot surrounded by buildings of up to 70 stories.

The project will be carried out in stages, to be completed by 2035.

However, the plan has generated opposition from architectural experts, whoargue that it would disrupt the city’s planning, affect historical monumentsnearby, greatly increase population density and worsen traffic.

The plan calls for six zones of high-rise buildings of between 40 to 70 storeysfor financial and media purposes, a railway station, and three areas oflow-rise buildings with a park, international trade zone and a new lifestylezone.

In addition, the station area is surrounded by dense construction, resulting ina shortage of public spaces and parking lots. The project would rearrange theuse of the land, create more urban open space and resettlement, and supplementsocial and technical infrastructure to serve residents, he said.

Road space inthe area would increase from 14,88 hectares to 24,72 hectares and undergroundparking lots would occupy 34.5 hectares of the project’s area.

However, many construction experts and architects have raised objections.

Do Viet Chien, former Director of the Ministry of Construction’s Department ofUrban Development, said the project would increase the population and putpressure on facilities. In addition, commercial centres would attract a largenumber of people, causing terrible traffic congestion, he explained.

PhD Pham Sy Liem, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Construction Association,agreed, saying the station was an important traffic hub linking many key routesof Le Duan, Tran Hung Dao, Le Thuong Kiet and Hai Ba Trung streets. The70-storey buildings would worsen the situation.

Liem said Hanoi made an effort to reduce the population in the inner city, notincrease it. The Hanoi Railway Station has historic significance for the city andthe city should consider building a railway station out of the centre andmaintain the current station as a historic venue.

Nguyen Ngoc Tien, a researcher, said the 80-year-old French-style architecture ofthe station was an Asian landmark that should be preserved. Moreover, thenew railway area would cover a large area and affect dozens of historicmonuments nearby, including the ancient Temple of Literature.

The committee is collecting opinions from ministries and sectors beforeproposing it to the Government.-VNA