Thông Tin

Rich-poor gap in Vietnam epitomised by Hanoi’s Old Quarter, where people live in poverty next to banks and boutiques

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  • In Hanoi’s moneyed commercial centre, corporate HQs and luxury shops sit steps from the homes of people living in tiny rooms too small to stand up in
  • After the Vietnam war ended in 1975, people were given small spaces to live in with the hope of larger housing in the future – dreams that never came true
Sen Nguyen

Sen Nguyen, SCMP

Hoang Van Xuan in the 5-square-metre mouldy attic that he calls his home. He works as a delivery man and motorbike taxi driver, but as the popularity of bike-sharing platforms explodes, he can barely make ends meet. Photo: Sen Nguyen
Hoang Van Xuan in the 5-square-metre mouldy attic that he calls his home. He works as a delivery man and motorbike taxi driver, but as the popularity of bike-sharing platforms explodes, he can barely make ends meet. Photo: Sen Nguyen

“If anyone offered me a bigger house in exchange for my leg, I would give it to them in a heartbeat,” says Vietnamese delivery man Hoang Van Xuan, a 56-year-old who lives in a tiny decrepit attic in Hanoi, in the moneyed commercial centre known as the Old Quarter.

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