Is ‘gentrification’ an analytically useful concept for Vietnam? A case study of Hanoi

Despite the rapid transformation in the urban landscape of Vietnam, a simple and uncritical application of the ‘gentrification’ concept out of the specific spatial and temporal context of the country is problematic. Not only does the phenomenon progress in a highly compressed temporal scale compared with similar processes in cities in the Global North, it is also embedded within a paradigmatic shift of the entire socio-economic system. This paper attempts to explore the process of urban redevelopment in Vietnam and critically examines whether this concept, with its origin from the Global North, is capable of offering a conceptually robust lens through which the processes and outcomes of redevelopment can be consistently analysed. This helps to shed light on our understanding of the usefulness of the concept of gentrification in Vietnam and in transitional economies in Asia in general.