Ha Noi municipality is to get tough on vendors and motorbike parks that illegally block pavements from July 1.

A decade ago, bicycles and three-wheeled pedal taxis rode quietly down the tree-lined streets of Vietnam’s capital. Now, 1.8 million motorcycles and scooters buzz through Hanoi every day in a confused and unrelieved cacophony. By Thomas Fuller

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved US$155.21 million for the Hanoi Urban Transport Development Project to promote environmentally sustainable transport modes and urban development plans, and to replicate the model country and region-wide.

A survey on air pollution was carried out at hot spots in Hanoi on June 5 under the Swiss-Vietnamese Clean Air Programme (SVCAP) with the aim of working out measures to tackle the problem.

6 March 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam

11 May 2006, Hanoi, Viet Nam

By Vo Thi Quynh Truc and Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh (to appear in Atmospheric Environment)