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Peer Exchange to Transform Streets for Safety: Boosting livable streets in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City

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Peer Exchange to Transform Streets for Safety: Boosting livable streets in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City

Details

On October 25th and 26th, an important event took place in Hanoi, bringing together representatives from three major Vietnamese cities—Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City—to discuss creating safer road infrastructure in Vietnam. The Cities Peer Exchange on Safe Street Transformations, hosted by the Hanoi Department of Transportation (HN DOT) with support from HealthBridge Vietnam and the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI), provided a platform for cities to collaborate, share insights, and explore strategies for creating safer, more livable streets for everyone.

Peer Exchange team group photo
Meeting Discussion at DOTHN

This two-day gathering was a milestone in Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to improve road safety, particularly for its most vulnerable road users—pedestrians, cyclists, and schoolchildren. The event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including local transportation departments (DOTs), traffic safety committees (TSCs), traffic police, and national agencies such as the Ministry of Transportation, Transport Development & Strategy Institute and the National Traffic Safety Committee. Also present were members of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) and community representatives, all united in a shared mission to build safer, more pedestrian-friendly urban environments.

Site Visits

Key Highlights from the Exchange Included:

  • Collaborative Learning and Knowledge Sharing: The exchange featured presentations, group discussions, and site visits, where transportation engineers and TSC heads from Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City shared best practices in road safety design, public engagement, and overcoming common challenges in implementing safe street projects.
  • Creating National Road Safety Standards: A key takeaway from the discussions was the urgent need for national urban road safety standards. Experts emphasized that establishing a unified framework would ensure consistency and effectiveness in making streets safer across all cities in Vietnam.
  • On-the-Ground Impact: During visits to newly improved school zones, participants were able to see firsthand the tangible benefits of transformed school streets—where safer crossings, better traffic management, and more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly designs have already made a difference in the lives of students, parents, and teachers and other community members.

The peer exchange not only facilitated valuable knowledge-sharing but also strengthened the ties between cities, fostering a collaborative spirit that will be crucial as Vietnam moves toward a nationwide model of safer, more accessible streets for all road users including vulnerable groups.

Nguyen Du School after

This collaborative effort signals a hopeful future for safer roads in Vietnam—where streets are designed not just for cars and motorcycles, but for people.