More slums to be cleared from Hue Citadel

The province's legislators announced on Monday that the latest resettlement will be carried out before 2025 to move 1,287 families.

As per a plan approved by the provincial People's Council, a resettlement area of more than nine hectares will be built at the cost of VND664 billion (US$27.88 million) to provide new houses for them.

In 2018, slums in Hue Citadel drew public attention following media reports saying 15,000 residents living there faced severe weather conditions with scant protection, live amidst squalor and pollution and without normal amenities like toilets, stable roofs and walls.

The Imperial City of Hue is a walled fortress and palace that acted as the royal capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 until 1945. The location was made a UNESCO site in 1993, and the historic structures were restored and preserved.

Over time, local people who were too poor to move elsewhere illegally built makeshift houses inside the citadel's walls that became slums because upgrading is not allowed due to preservation regulations.

The province in 2018 set up a project costing over VND4 trillion to clear the slums and relocate residents.

Between 2019 and 2022, authorities carried out the first phase of the relocation project and almost 2,000 families were moved out.