The Park of Broken Promises

In the early 2000s, it was announced that a water park would be built inside Tuổi Trẻ park, right next to my house.

This was HUGE news. Back then, Hanoi was still in the early days of development and there were not many entertainment choices for children. There was a big water park in Tây Hồ, but it was really far from my house.

For us local residents, considering how our neighbourhood used to be infested with crime and poverty, a lot of us looked forward to this water park as a symbol of change. I remember how excited and optimistic everyone — especially the kids — were when we counted down until the park’s opening day.

Fast forward a couple of years: that water park — once a symbol of pride and development for the city — is now an abandoned ruin. I still frequently run in Tuổi Trẻ park, and every time I look up to see those massive heaps of rusted metal I just get filled with sadness. So much wasted potential.

A Dark History

A bit of background first: the neighbourhood I used to live in was notorious for drug trafficking. Heroin was openly sold here, and the ground was always littered with used syringes. The neighbourhood was called “xóm liều” (The Reckless Street) because of how reckless the addicts living there were.

My house was smack in the middle of the neighbourhood. Every day 6-year-old me would walk to school and back, oblivious to the dangers around. The syringes on the ground were such a common problem that even to this day, whenever my dad sees me running barefoot, he still tells me to be careful of stepping on syringes.

In 2001, the city council decided to clear out the entire neighbourhood. I guess this is a quick and dirty way to get rid of the heroin epidemic? They evicted everybody and paid relocation reimbursements. My dad bought an apartment about 500 metres away, right next to my grandparents’.

My old house was quickly bulldozed. The area was turned into a giant park named “Tuổi Trẻ” (Youth Park). To me, the neighbourhood’s troubled past has been erased, and the park and its greenery symbolise a hopeful and fresh new start.

The Park of Promises

At first, the city promised that the park would be a gigantic recreational zone for residents. The total area would be 26 hectares, filled with trees, flowers, walking paths and sport yards. Sounds super awesome right? I would have a massive playground to run, play shuttlecock, do calisthenics, take a stroll, everything — right next to my house!

It wasn’t just me; everyone was looking forward to this park. For us the closest public leisure area was Thống Nhất park which was 2 kilometres away, so this park would make it so much more convenient.

Except that somehow, due to mismanagement and corruption, the park was gradually sold out. Private businesses began to spring up and occupied most of the park: a giant karaoke, a wedding centre, a supermarket, private tennis courts, parking lots, a restaurant, a gym, and many more. The publicly accessible area was shrunken down to just enough to accommodate a pathetically small number of park goers.

Of course most residents of the area were not happy at all. But what can we do? Sue them?

The Abandoned Water Park

In 2002, the city invested 1 trillion VND (50 million USD) to construct a giant water park inside the park. Of course everybody welcomed this development. This project would modernise the park and the entire neighbourhood, become the centre of our district, provide economic opportunities, and give children a new place to play at.

The park eventually opened in late 2004. I remember one day in 2005 walking past the park and looking up at the huge Ferris Wheel in motion. It was breathtaking. I never got the chance to sit on it, but just the sight of the wheel turning — especially at night with its lights on — was absolutely magnificent.

Somehow in 2007, the park closed. Just… closed. It was never clear why (an investigation is being conducted I think), but they simply ceased operation. All the expensive equipment was left sitting there, rusting.

To this day, I’m still regularly running in the park. And every time I run past the former site of the water park, I cannot help but just feel… sad. I don’t know how to describe it — this park has so much potential to be a major tourist attraction; the area could have been so much more beautiful and vibrant, and I could have enjoyed my runs so much more. And yet here I am, surrounded by waste, greed, incompetence, and a heap of decades-old steel that will collapse anytime.

What Could Have Been

What always bothers me is the thought of what everything could have been. This park has prime location; it could absolutely have been the jewel of Hanoi. But well, greed always has to come first.

Hanoi has a couple of other huge parks that are very well-built and maintained. Thống Nhất park is an obvious one (the best place to run in Hanoi, in my opinion). Yên Sở park is also awesome, but it’s way too far from city centre.

What about Tuổi Trẻ park? It could have rivalled those two! And it’s my park in my neighbourhood. Instead, now I have to run on poorly maintained pavement with a measly number of trees and a gigantic death metal trap above my head.

At least on the bright side, we now have a park. Better a derelict park than an addicts’ haven right?