Urban Transformation in a Transitional Economy: Is "Gentrification" an Analytically Useful Concept for Vietnam?

Despite the rapid transformation in the urban landscape of Vietnam, a simple and uncritical application of the "gentrification" concept out of the specific spatial and temporal context of the country is problematic. Not only does the phenomena progress in a highly compressed temporal scale compared to similar processes in cities in the "global north", it is also embedded within a paradigmatic shift of the entire socio-economic system. This paper attempts to explore the process of urban redevelopment in Vietnam and to critically examine whether this concept, with its origin from the "global north", is capable of offering a conceptually robust lens through which the phenomena can be consistently analysed. This paper attempts to contribute to such discussion and explore the process of urban redevelopment in Vietnam and offer a critical examination on the applicability of the concept in cities of the global south, particularly within the context of a city in a transitional economy. To enhance coherence of the empirical data being compared, the city of Hanoi is used as the case study city. As the capital and a “political” city of Vietnam, Hanoi is undoubtedly commendable to the typical socio-political forces that are at work in the country. With case examples of redevelopment projects in Hanoi against the context of the specificity of the socio-economic and political transformation of the country, this paper will offer a conceptually robust lens through which the phenomena of gentrification can be critically analysed in the specific context of Vietnam.