HANOI — Rows of townhouses torn down in hours, roads ripped up by bulldozers and city blocks reduced to rubble in the name of progress — giant construction sites litter Hanoi as it races ahead with urban renewal.

A “100-year master plan” for the Vietnamese capital includes new bridges, subway lines and riverside developments.

Hundreds of thousands could be displaced to make way for construction, authorities say, as the city of eight million prepares to accommodate twice as many people by 2045.

Communist leaders hope Vietnam will be a developed country by then, buoyed by breakneck growth and spurred by their huge infrastructure investments.

But the speed of implementation has unnerved residents, made some homeless and left many more fearing the same fate.

“I have never seen authorities acting that quick,” said Hung, a 51-year-old businessman whose house was torn down last month for a US$750 million (RM3 billion) bridge spanning the Red River.

“My dad had lived there all his life, he got to know every corner, everyone, now he saw it all demolished in a blink,” he added, asking to be identified only by his first name.

He said he received 10 billion dong as compensation along with a rural plot of land — but that the home’s market value was nearly triple that.

The city having another bridge is “good for all, but not for us”, he added.

“We are unlucky to be the sufferers in this giant restructuring of Hanoi.”