The relocation of homes built over and along canals has been a central goal pursued by Ho Chi Minh City for more than three decades. The effort aims to revive degraded waterways while delivering improved living conditions for residents. Today, that long journey is accelerating as canals are turning clear again, newly built roads curve cleanly along their banks, and communities are entering a new chapter of life.
Along Nguyen Duy Street in Chanh Hung Ward, part of a project to dredge, upgrade infrastructure, and rehabilitate the northern bank of Doi Canal, more than 90 percent of affected homes have been dismantled and land cleared. Most households have accepted compensation and relocated elsewhere.
Dang Thanh Tam, whose home and land were impacted by the project, shared: “This area used to be heavily polluted, but we couldn’t afford to move, so we endured temporary and difficult living conditions. When the city announced the canal improvement project, everyone was happy, knowing the environment would improve and people would have better lives.”
After her house on Nguyen Duy Street was cleared, Kim Loan registered for resettlement at an apartment complex on Pham The Hien Street in Chanh Hung Ward. “After so many years in a dilapidated house, moving into a new home feels like opening a brighter new chapter for my family,” she said.
At Xuyen Tam Canal, near Nguyen Xuan On Street in Gia Dinh Ward, resident Nguyen Thanh Duc sorted through metal scraps from his recently vacated home saying that he has lived here for over 50 years. He revealed that the water used to be clear, but in recent years it has become badly polluted. Therefore, he is glad about the clearance because it gives local residents a chance to move to a better place and leave behind life beside a blackened canal.
Also affected by the Xuyen Tam Canal project, Truong Thanh, a resident of An Nhon Ward, said his family had lived for more than 30 years in a rundown house in a narrow alley off Nguyen Thai Son Street. Following the project, they were resettled in the Khang Gia apartment complex.
HCMC canal projects push ahead amid clearance, cost challenges
To secure land for canal rehabilitation, compensation and site clearance have been carried out with urgency. For the Doi Canal northern bank project, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board reported that 1,604 households were affected, with approximately 1,475 having already handed over their land. According to Pham Quang Tu, Chairman of the Chanh Hung Ward People’s Committee, a small number of cases remain unresolved due to inheritance declaration issues, but local authorities continue outreach efforts. “We aim to complete 100 percent of compensation and site clearance within May,” he said.
At the Xuyen Tam Canal project, site clearance for the section from Luong Ngoc Quyen Street to the Vam Thuat River in An Nhon Ward, which is affecting 138 households, has been completed. In Binh Loi Trung Ward, six out of 20 affected cases are expected to hand over land after April 30. Across Binh Thanh and Gia Dinh wards, as of April 23, 861 out of 2,046 affected cases had completed site handover.
In the final days of April, construction activity at the Tham Luong – Ben Cat – Nuoc Len canal rehabilitation project has intensified. In An Nhon Ward, heavy machinery and workers are laying asphalt to bring the road into service as soon as possible. From early morning, rollers, pavers, and water trucks operate at full capacity. At the intersection with Tran Ba Giao Street, crews level and smooth the asphalt, marking the final stages before opening to traffic.
Nguyen Van Tung, a construction worker on-site, said his team often works late into the evening to meet deadlines. Despite challenges such as site constraints and rising material costs, the project’s investor and contractors remain determined to open the left-bank section in An Nhon Ward to technical traffic before September 2, with the remaining components largely completed by November.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Unit, despite persistent difficulties with site clearance and sharp increases in material costs amid recent market volatility, the investor and contractors are pressing ahead with plans to open the left-bank section in An Nhon Ward to traffic on a technical basis before September 2, while aiming to substantially complete the remaining components by November.
