New metro system in Hanoi: An analysis of its impacts on property location and factors affecting its success

Abstract

The new urban metro system project in Hanoi was officially approved by the government in 2008 and is anticipated to play an indispensible part of mitigating the urban congestion in Hanoi, reducing the use of private transport and enhancing the urban environment. Specifically, the impacts of the metro system in Hanoi will be discussed in this study with two focuses. Those are the people’s preference of properties’ location referring to the introduction of the metro system and the factors that affect the willingness of travellers to switch to take the metro. Overall, people prefer to experience commercial activities around the metro station. However, the willingness to stay and the intention of relocation near a train station is not strong with only half of people favoring. The main concerns include the noise pollution, security issues and unaffordability of residential property at this stage. Survey results indicated that the majority of Hanoi people support and welcome the project with a high level of awareness. Nevertheless, their willingness to take metro still counts on different factors. Ten factors were selected to investigate in details. One-way ANOVA’s result showed that, generally, there is no statistically significant difference between income groups in rating the importance of factors. Factor analysis highlighted four main dimensions, including the convenience of commuting by metro, cost of taking metro, quality of services offered and the difference in cost between private and public transport. Recommendations are suggested for the government to take up and assure the efficient performance of the metro system.