On the afternoon of 23/4, the National Assembly voted to pass the revised Capital Law, significantly expanding the decentralization of power to Hanoi. Under the new law, the city is granted 199 specific powers. Of these, the Hanoi People's Council receives 127 powers, the Hanoi People's Committee 56 powers, and the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee 16 powers.

These authorities are structured into three distinct tiers. The People's Council is responsible for deciding policies, organizational structures, and resource allocation. The People's Committee organizes implementation and operational management. The Chairman of the People's Committee directly decides on specific issues. This distribution of power, according to the Government, aims to ensure clear accountability and enhance the city's proactive role in managing and developing the capital.

The People's Council is empowered to decide on fundamental aspects of the city's administrative apparatus. This includes determining staffing quotas, organizational structures, and the establishment, reorganization, or dissolution of specialized agencies and public service units. It also regulates job positions, management regimes, and the use of civil servants and public employees, alongside issuing income policies for personnel receiving salaries from the budget.

In urban development, the People's Council has the authority to regulate the content and procedures for establishing and approving the Capital Master Plan. It also sets urban development policies for transit-oriented development (TOD) areas. Furthermore, the council decides on mechanisms for resource mobilization and revenues from capturing added value from land and transport infrastructure to fund development investments. This body is also authorized to enact policies on traffic, transport, and environment, including measures to develop public transport, restrict private vehicles, and reduce emissions.

The Hanoi People's Committee is tasked with implementing measures for digital administration and digital public services. It also establishes mechanisms to promote grassroots democracy and engage residents in local governance. Concurrently, the People's Committee is the body that proposes to the People's Council the issuance of resolutions piloting new mechanisms and policies, and it is responsible for their implementation, evaluation, and addressing any issues that arise during the pilot phase.

In urban management and infrastructure development, the People's Committee determines the list and relocation roadmap for facilities inconsistent with planning. It also regulates measures for managing and utilizing underground spaces and high-level spaces. Additionally, the committee decides on the procedures for implementing urban renovation, embellishment, and redevelopment projects, as well as the list of projects and their implementation roadmap.

Hanoi Party Secretary Tran Duc Thang at the National Assembly session on the afternoon of 23/4. Photo: Hoang Phong

The Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee has the authority to approve the Capital Master Plan after its adoption by the People's Council. The Chairman can also establish, reorganize, or dissolve public non-business units and apply administrative measures in urban order management as stipulated by law.

Notably, the city government can issue documents to streamline administrative procedures, making them simpler and more convenient for residents and businesses. However, these adjustments cannot impose additional conditions, require more documents, or extend processing times. The city is also permitted to pilot new mechanisms and policies across various sectors for a maximum duration of 5 years, with the possibility of extension.

**Establishment of special administrative-economic units allowed**

The law stipulates that administrative units within Hanoi include communes, wards, and special administrative-economic units. These special units are established by the National Assembly to fulfill a functional urban role as outlined in the Capital Master Plan.

Special administrative-economic units will operate under a distinctive model, applying superior mechanisms and policies. They will implement new policies for local governance, investment attraction, and enhancing the capital's competitiveness. This marks a new addition to Hanoi's administrative unit structure.

**Hanoi to supplement and issue education programs**

The Hanoi People's Committee is authorized to regulate educational linkages between public and private preschools, general education institutions, and foreign educational institutions.

The People's Committee can also supplement preschool and general education programs. However, these must meet the requirements for educational objectives, desired student qualities and competencies, and the mandatory educational content of the national preschool and general education programs.

Furthermore, the People's Committee can issue preschool and general education programs for institutions with educational linkages to foreign institutions. These programs must align with the capital's educational development goals and the requirements for educational objectives, desired student qualities and competencies, and the mandatory educational content of the national program.

Additionally, the People's Committee will establish criteria and conditions regarding facilities, management staff, teachers, curricula, teaching methods, and educational services for educational institutions with foreign linkages.

Based on the regulations of the Hanoi People's Council, the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee has the authority to decide on the establishment, merger, division, separation, dissolution, renaming, and licensing of public universities and public colleges managed by the city. The Chairman can also permit the establishment, merger, division, separation, dissolution, renaming, and licensing of private universities and private colleges within the city.

The Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee is also empowered to permit the establishment, merger, division, separation, dissolution, renaming, and licensing of universities and colleges with foreign investment or those with training linkages to foreign institutions within the city, after consulting with the Ministry of Education and Training.

**Strong decentralization in planning, space, and urban development**

Notably, only one Capital Master Plan will be established for Hanoi. This plan will concretize national-level and regional planning content, integrating, embedding, and replacing the existing Capital Planning and Capital General Planning. This comprehensive plan will hold the same legal validity as provincial planning and city general planning as stipulated by law.

The law also provides the city with numerous tools to manage and utilize underground, low-level, and high-level spaces. It promotes urban development in TOD areas and mobilizes revenues from capturing added value from land and infrastructure to develop the local railway system and connect transport infrastructure.

The revised Capital Law will take effect from 1/7/2026.

Son Ha