Hanoi People’s Committee

You are standing in front of the headquarters of the Hanoi People’s Committee, the institution that manages the city’s day-to-day government. This is where many of the major decisions shaping Hanoi’s political, economic, and social life are made. The building has stood on this strategic site since the late nineteenth century: it was built in 1883 by the French colonial administration to house the financial services of Tonkin, in the heart of the new administrative district developed around Hoan Kiem Lake. After independence, it became the natural center of Hanoi’s municipal government. In the 80s, the complex was expanded and modernized, and a new wing in a practical institutional style typical of socialist architecture was added, giving the building its mix of colonial and modern architecture that you see before you. Today, it contains the offices of the chairman of the People’s Committee, his deputies, and the city’s main administrative departments.