Why Are Many Houses in Vietnam Built Narrow and Tall?

Avoiding the main tourist places, we took a Grab taxi ride to district 10 to experience the local life. Because Vietnam has been experiencing a building boom and a steady rapid economic development in the decade, we kind of expected to seeing many new modern highrises in the area.

But instead we saw many traditional Vietnamese residential buildings which are usually 2 to 4 story high, many with balconies beautified with flowers, plants and greenery.

 I was curious to find out why so many buildings and houses in Vietnam are built tall and slender. I asked this question and learned a few things about Vietnamese history and culture. These distinctive "tubes houses" or "nha ong" are the results of a mix of historical laws and modern economics.

  1. Historical 'Facade Tax' During the French colonial era, property taxes were based on the width of a building's street frontage. To minimize tax, people built narrow homes and compensated by building deep and tall.

2. Today with high land cost in the city being extremely expensive, buying a narrow plot of land much more affordable and building veritcally is a practical way of maximizing space.

 3.Traditionally, these homes accommodate extended families living together, with different generations occupying separate floors.( My mom would have love that for our family!) To combat the lack of natural light, many incorporate internal 'AIR WELLS" - small courtyards for ventilation. What a great idea!

  I found these tube houses very interesting and practical. I hope in the future, North Americans may be able to accept these kind of designs which will help to ease the housing shortage problems we have currently.

 

Strolling away from the main streets, we explored some alley ways. Instead of seeing many Starbucks, McDonald's and KFC fried chicken restaurants, we discovered mom and pop eateries and neighbourhood coffee shops and Vietnam's own version of Starbucks coffee shop. We stopped and enjoyed coffee and desserts in a local non franchised coffee house. It was very nice, and definitely could compete with Starbucks!

  We rested a little n hurried back to the downtown area for an evening performance at the Saigon Opera House.

  RT, HCMC, Vietnam

  02032026