Article 4 of the Vietnamese Law on Children, issued in 2016, emphasizes the importance of protecting children’s well-being and ensuring their healthy development. However, in recent years, there have been several unfortunate incidents and concerns regarding children’s safety in apartment buildings. In addition, children living in many apartment complexes lack recreational spaces due to encroachment.
Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, points out two main issues. First, there is a lack of detailed regulations and guidelines that specifically address children’s safety. Second, there is a lack of consideration for children’s needs during the approval and inspection processes, from design plans to completed constructions.
He further emphasizes the role of developers and investors, noting that many prioritize profits over the well-being of future residents, including children. Dr. Dinh highlights cases where investors have blatantly encroached on communal areas intended for amenities, repurposing them for personal gain.
To address these issues, Dr. Dinh suggests that investors and developers must be educated and trained to prioritize children’s safety and well-being from the initial planning stages of their projects. He cites examples from Thailand and Malaysia, where social housing projects with 8,000 apartments still provide well-planned infrastructure and amenities, demonstrating a clear consideration for the disabled and children from the outset.
In contrast, Vietnamese projects often lack this foresight, especially in apartment designs that rarely consider children’s needs. Dr. Dinh suggests that identifying criteria for child-friendly infrastructure, such as safe transportation systems, elevators, and fire safety measures, is essential to enhancing children’s safety in residential areas.
He commends reputable developers, such as Vinhomes and Ecopark, for their high-quality, law-abiding projects that offer diverse infrastructure and amenities catering to the needs of families with children. Dr. Dinh asserts that only when investors demonstrate a conscious effort to prioritize the well-being of children will their projects gain the trust and confidence of prospective residents.
To promote child-friendly developments, he proposes that awards for projects should also consider the developers’ awareness and commitment to children’s safety and well-being.
Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, and Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association.
