At Thanh Da Apartment Complex in Ward 27, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, blocks IV and VI—previously identified as dangerously tilted—have already been demolished. Meanwhile, blocks I and II are now severely leaning, with both ends of the structures visibly drawing closer together. Cracks have split walls and warped door frames, leaving hundreds of families living in constant fear that the buildings could collapse at any moment.
Sloping floors, mounting fears
According to local officials in Ward 27, the Thanh Da Apartment Complex consists of eight numbered blocks and houses more than 1,000 families. All of the buildings were constructed before 1975 and, after decades of use, have significantly deteriorated. Among them, blocks I, II, IV, and VI are in the worst condition. Crumbling walls, exposed steel reinforcements, and subsiding foundations have caused entire buildings to tilt, with their opposing ends slowly converging.
In response to the imminent danger, local authorities evacuated residents from blocks IV and VI. However, many remain in blocks I and II, holding out despite the constant threat.
A recent site visit revealed that blocks I and II have tilted severely. The ends of the buildings lean so closely that they appear on the verge of touching. On the upper floors, cracks run through walls, floor surfaces are noticeably sloped, and most doors are misaligned or deformed—many must be forcefully adjusted just to open or close.
“The higher you go, the worse the tilt,” said Truong Thi Mong Lan, a resident of apartment 001 in block I. “Those living on the ground floor aren’t spared either. They suffer from frequent flooding.” To cope, residents have built brick barriers inside their homes in an attempt to hold back water, but during heavy rain or high tides, water seeps up through the floor, inundating homes and damaging belongings.
According to residents, the continued shifting of the structures has caused their internal framework to warp further. Concrete beams and columns have torn away from walls, accelerating the degradation. Structural repairs are difficult, as any attempt to fix the tilted foundation risks reintroducing cracks and peeling walls. Daily life has become increasingly difficult, and anxiety over potential collapse looms over every moment.
Resettlement in limbo
Recent heavy rains have only intensified residents’ hardships. Each time they look up and see the buildings leaning more sharply, the sense of dread deepens. Many ask the same question: When will this nightmare end? For the hundreds of families who were evacuated from blocks IV and VI years ago, a new permanent home remains out of reach—they have lived in temporary accommodations ever since.
A visit to the vacant lot where blocks IV and VI once stood—the site earmarked for new resettlement housing—reveals nothing but an empty, walled-off expanse. This project was intended to be the first in a broader redevelopment plan for all eight buildings of the Thanh Da Complex. According to the initial proposal, the 14,000-square-meter site would host 45-story towers offering more than 1,700 apartment units for approximately 2,900 residents. The development was assigned to Thanh Da Housing Development JSC.
But while residents wait anxiously for a path out of danger, progress has stalled. Despite urgent need, the project remains on paper.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thong, Chairman of the Ward 27 People’s Committee, acknowledged that among the eight buildings, four are in a critical state due to foundation subsidence and significant structural tilting. While the government has removed residents from the most hazardous blocks (IV and VI), those still living in blocks I and II remain exposed to risk. “We feel like we’re sitting on a ticking time bomb,” Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thong admitted. “Even local officials are living in fear as the buildings continue to tilt.”
According to Ward 27 authorities, they have repeatedly raised the alarm, but their role is limited to advocacy and support. The resettlement and reconstruction decisions are the responsibility of higher-level authorities.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued Document No.7852/UBND-DT, on December 19, 2017, officially naming Thanh Da Housing Development JSC as the investor for the redevelopment of all eight numbered blocks. The urban redevelopment plan for 2018–2020 included construction of new buildings on the site of blocks IV and VI by 2019 and full relocation of the remaining blocks by 2020.
Years later, those commitments remain unfulfilled. For the residents of Thanh Da, as well as local officials, the wait for resettlement drags on with no end in sight. The only thing advancing is the tilt of the buildings.
