Hanoi on June 29 unveiled the first 100-year master plan in its history, betting that the capital can lift average incomes to US$95,000 and build a $1.92 trillion economy by 2065.
Those are first-world numbers for a city whose economy was worth about $63 billion last year, or roughly $7,000 a person.
The blueprint, approved in May, drops the idea of Hanoi as a single sprawling city.
Instead it envisions a "radial cluster," with Hanoi as the core and neighboring provinces such as Bac Ninh, Hung Yen and Thai Nguyen acting as satellite poles that absorb people and industry.
The shift reflects sheer scale. Hanoi's population, about 9 million today, is projected to hit 14 to 15 million by 2035 and 17 to 19 million by 2065, with a hard cap below 20 million after that.
