Unbelievable Figures: Mr. Duong ‘Beer’ Proposes Building 100,000 Social Housing Units Priced at 1 Billion VND on Top of Light Rail Trains

On December 11, 2025, Hoa Binh Heavy Disabled Veterans LLC unveiled the load test results of the multi-tiered “Highway and Urban Rail” model in Vinh Hung, Hanoi.

This innovative urban infrastructure model, a first in Vietnam, integrates highways, urban railways, commercial spaces, and social housing on a single structural axis.

The most striking feature is the placement of social housing directly above the urban rail line.

According to Nguyen Huu Duong, Chairman of Hoa Binh Group (also known as Duong Bia), if this technology is widely adopted, Vietnam could “build millions of social housing units without land clearance,” as all infrastructure, transportation, and housing are integrated on a single axis.

Level 1 houses the rainwater drainage system.

Level 2 serves the urban rail or two-lane highway along with commercial facilities.

Level 3 is dedicated to the urban rail system.

Levels 4, 5, and 6 comprise social housing, fully compliant with Vietnam’s fire safety and noise standards. When vehicles pass below, the recorded sound level is under 35 dB, significantly lower than the 51 dB nighttime limit permitted in Vietnam.

Duong asserts that this model boasts the fastest construction speed, lowest investment cost, and highest environmental friendliness among global highway and urban rail projects. The technology is patented in Vietnam and is pending international registration in Europe and beyond.

The load testing was conducted by the Center for Science, Technology, and Investment Consulting at Danang University of Technology, under the supervision of Professor Nguyen Lan.

Test results indicate that with one urban rail lane and one vehicle lane, the structure withstands earthquakes above level 8 and repeated 250-ton impacts (10 times), exceeding Vietnam’s 180-ton standard. The measured deflection is under 1 mm, far below the 12.5 mm regulatory limit. For configurations with two rail and two vehicle lanes, the load and earthquake resistance remain unchanged, with deflection reduced to 0.5 mm.

The model’s unique four-layer structure was constructed, assembled, concreted, and load-tested within just 10 days, spanning 31 meters in length, 21 meters in width, and requiring a maximum of 50 workers.

The structure has a lifespan exceeding 150 years, significantly surpassing Vietnam’s 100-year standard.

Following the successful load test, Duong plans to submit a proposal to the Central Steering Committee for Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation, suggesting a pilot project on the 32 km route from the National Convention Center to Lang – Hoa Lac, with a 20-meter median.

The company estimates that this model could accommodate 3 to 5 housing levels above the route, creating 60,000 to 100,000 social housing units. Traditionally, Hanoi would allocate 62 trillion VND for this route, taking 5–7 years. With this model, construction time is reduced to approximately one year, and the state could save on budgeting, even generating 3 trillion VND in VAT from social housing sales.

The projected selling price is 25 million VND/m², with construction costs around 12 million VND; the difference offsets road construction expenses.
Thus, the smallest unit would cost just over 1 billion VND.

Addressing concerns about the impact of housing tens of thousands on transportation infrastructure, Duong assures that the model integrates all essential amenities—education, healthcare, and commerce—on the same axis, minimizing resident travel needs.

Proximity to urban rail allows social housing residents to forgo personal vehicles, reducing traffic congestion and air pollution—a critical issue in Hanoi.

Duong believes that applying this model could enable Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to complete their entire urban rail networks within three years and construct 5,000 km of international-standard highways. This approach, eliminating large-scale land clearance, could save trillions in investment costs.

“These four layers of roads, in my view, are the four golden pathways to national development,” he stated.

Chairman Nguyen Huu Duong noted that no country, including Japan, has implemented a similar model. Following the pilot project’s introduction, the company plans to invite embassies for tours and is prepared to transfer the technology upon request.

Previously, on March 4, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting with Hoa Binh Company, scientific experts, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Science and Technology regarding the construction of elevated highways and urban railways using PRC V+ high-strength concrete pile technology.

Hoa Binh Company reported that PRC V+ technology employs prestressed centrifugal concrete piles and prestressed hollow panel slabs to build elevated highways and urban railways, replacing traditional on-site casting methods that are more costly and time-consuming.

With this new technology, standardized concrete components for elevated highways and urban railways are pre-fabricated in factories, eliminating on-site pile and beam concreting. This accelerates construction, ensures quality, and significantly reduces costs through mass production.