Planning of Residential Housing Areas for Industrial Zones Workers in the Red River Delta integrated with Sustainable Livelihood and Community Development

Over the past 30 years, Vietnam has developed about 400 industrial parks, 290 of which have come into operation, creating jobs for more than 4 million workers. Workers in industrial zones are mostly young people, migrating from rural areas. Creating accommodation for workers is overlooked, leading to only about 20% of workers having stable accommodation in worker dormitories, with the remainder renting houses in villages surrounding the industrial zones with poor amenities and services. Young immigrant workers in industrial zones are mostly unskilled workers with low incomes, only meeting the minimum living needs. The rate of workers losing their jobs after the age of 35 has become a prominent phenomenon in society. The author’s goal is to construct sustainable worker housing areas that not only aim to increase the number of accommodations but also to promote the development of workers’ sustainable livelihood capacity. This helps them adapt to adverse changes in work when entering middle age. Housing planning solutions also need to create community cohesion and development, so that workers can integrate into society as well as participate in creating a spirit of residence for themselves. The research is based on DFID’s theoretical framework of sustainable livelihoods with five capital sources: natural capital, social capital, physical capital, and financial capital. The author conducted a space survey of 20 housing areas and a sociological survey of 500 questionnaires for workers to assess the sustainable livelihood index of workers. Policies and practices on housing development for workers are analysed to point out the remaining problems. The author has provided perspectives and principles for developing worker housing areas to improve sustainable livelihood index and community development for workers. Based on development realities and policies on social housing for workers in Vietnam, three models of worker housing are proposed. The author specifically proposes population forecast, land use planning criteria, spatial development orientation, steps for planning residential development and investment models for workers’ housing development. An example of planning a housing area for workers in an industrial park in Hanoi is also carried out to concretize the proposed planning perspectives and principles.