Yên Hòa

Yên Hòa [iən˧˧:hwa̤ː˨˩] is a ward^[3][4] of Hanoi the capital city in the Red River Delta of Vietnam.

Its name Yên Hòa (Hán: 安和, Nôm: 𭴣和) is originally a combination of seven localities that have many cultural traditions in urban Hanoi : Hòa Mục (or Nhân Hòa), Trung Hòa (or Trung Kính Thượng),^[5] Trung Kính (or Đàn Kính Chủ), Trung Yên (or Trung Kính Hạ), Yên Hòa, Yên Lãng, and especially Yên Quyết (or Bạch Liên Hoa).^[6]

The modern area of Yên Hòa Ward is two former administrative units with a very long history : Kẻ Cót Village (Hạ Yên Quyết Village) and Kẻ Giàn Village (Đàn Kính Chủ Village). Their remaining relics is an old communal hall called Trung Kính Hạ.^[7]

According to Đồng Khánh địa dư chí lược (同慶地輿志略), around the late years of Gia Long, the Southwestern area of Hà Nội Citadel still belonged to Từ Liêm rural district, Quốc Oai prefecture, Sơn Tây garrisons of the Northern Citadel region^{[note 3]}.

By 1831, Emperor Minh Mệnh issued an Order^{[note 4]} to eliminate the Ming-style "garrisons" regime to switch to the Qing-style "province" regime. Since then, Từ Liêm district has been part of Hoài Đức prefecture of Hà Nội province. In particular, the area of this district-level administrative unit consisted of 5 villages from its North to South and West to East side : Yên Quyết (Kẻ Cót), Dịch Vọng (Kẻ Vòng), Mễ Trì (Kẻ Mẩy), Yên Lãng (Kẻ Láng), Đàn Kính Chủ (Kẻ Giàn). These administrative systems and names have remained the same until the end of the 1950s by many different governments.

In 1961, in the process of expanding the area of urban Hà Nội in the Southwest direction, most of those villages were merged into two urban districts V and VI, while Mễ Trì village became the commune of Từ Liêm rural district. Four merged villages have been raised to townships. Because at that time in the North Vietnam, there was no ward-level yet.

On November 22, 1996, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 74-CP to establish Cầu Giấy urban district on the basis of the entire area and population of 4 former townships Cầu Giấy, Mai Dịch, Nghĩa Đô, Nghĩa Tân, and 3 communes Dịch Vọng, Trung Hòa, Yên Hòa, belonging to Từ Liêm district. In particular, Cầu Giấy township was renamed to Quan Hoa ward. When newly established, the district had 7 wards : Dịch Vọng, Mai Dịch, Nghĩa Đô, Nghĩa Tân, Quan Hoa, Trung Hòa, and Yên Hòa.

On April 19, 2025, to realize the project to arrange and merge administrative units by the Government of Vietnam, the Hà Nội People's Committee quickly approved a Resolution on the plan of re-arranging commune+ward-level administrative units in the whole city.^[8]

According to the political document published for the press in the same day, Cầu Giấy Urban District was officially dissolved. Its entire area and population have been divided into three new wards Cầu Giấy 1 (Cầu Giấy), Cầu Giấy 2 (Nghĩa Đô), and Cầu Giấy 3 (Yên Hòa).^[9] From that reality, Yên Hòa Ward^[10] (安和坊, phường Yên Hòa) has been established based on the merging of :

• The entire natural area and population of two former wards Trung Hòa and Yên Hòa.
• The part of two former ward Mễ Trì (Nam Từ Liêm District) and Nhân Chính (Thanh Xuân District).

This has helped to double the size of the new administrative unit. Yên Hòa Ward is under the direct management of the Hà Nội City People's Committee.

• Plan to establish commune-level administrative units...
• ... within Cầu Giấy Rural District in 2025.
• Detail map of three new wards Nghĩa Đô, Cầu Giấy, and Yên Hòa.

Yên Hòa Ward situates roughly to the Southwest area of urban Hanoi. According to the content of the planning map, what was given to households on 17 April 2025,^[11] the administrative unit called Cầu Giấy 3 or New Yên Hòa Ward is located in the South of Cầu Giấy Ward through Dương Đình Nghệ Street and the North of Thanh Xuân Ward through Lê Văn Lương Street. Its West is Từ Liêm Ward and a little of Đại Mỗ Ward, while its East is adjacent to the Tô Lịch River and connected to the other side of the 361 Bridge by Láng Ward.

Before 2013, 2/3 of the area of Yên Hòa Ward was still vegetable fields. However, since the Trần Duy Hưng Street has been completed and put into commercial exploitation, it has divided this ward into two little zones in Hanoi.

• Dương Đình Nghệ Street along the Northern side of the ward
• Phạm Hùng Street along the Western side of the ward
• 361 Bridge from Láng Boulevard to Vũ Phạm Hàm Street
• Tô Lịch Riverside Parks^{[note 5]} along the banks of Tô Lịch River
• Tô Lịch Bridge from Láng Boulevard to Trần Duy Hưng Street
• Láng Boulevard along the Eastern side of the ward
• Lê Văn Lương Street along the Southern side of the ward

• Tinh Hoa Pond
• Nguyệt Hà Pond
• Banyan Alley, YHPV
• Palm Alley, YHPV
• Round Quarter, YHPV
• Rosy Quarter, YHPV
• Golden Garden, YHPV
• Dark Avenue, YHPV
• Híkaros Gardens
• Trung Kính Lake
• Trung Yên Park
• Tô Lịch Riverside Parks
• Trung Kính Hạ Playground
• Học Phi Street
• Xuân Quỳnh Street

Like Hanoi, under the Köppen climate classification Yên Hòa Ward has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa).^[12] There is significant air pollution in Yên Hòa like other wards of Hanoi. A 2022 study from the Vietnam National University determined that most of the air pollution in here is caused by particulates. Nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide in the air are also present in significant amount.^[13]

Local level

• Yên Hòa Ward People's Committee: No.231, Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Yên Hòa Ward Communist Party Committee and Fatherland Front Committee: No.255, Nguyễn Khang Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Yên Hòa Ward Public Administrative Service Center: No.231, Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.^[20]
• Yên Hòa Ward Police Station: No.73, Đỗ Quang Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.

Central level

• Supreme People's Procuracy: No.9, Phạm Văn Bạch Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Government Inspectorate: No.20, Hoàng Quán Chi Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• State Audit Office: No.116, phố Nguyễn Chánh Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Telecommunications Department: No.68, Dương Đình Nghệ Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Hanoi Land Development Center: No.46, Lưu Quang Vũ Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.
• Institute of Agricultural Mechanization and Post-Harvest Technology: No.60, Trung Kính Street, Yên Hòa Ward of the urban Hanoi.

According to the roadmap to be implemented from July 1, 2025, in addition to the streets that existed before the reform and merger, six projects, essentially new urban areas Cầu Giấy, Dịch Vọng, Nam Trung Yên, Trung Hòa Nhân Chính, Trung Yên, and Yên Hòa, will begin to be divided into streets with completely new names.^[21] These new names are inspired by the names of famous writers and journalists,^[22] aiming to create a distinctive character for the administrative units they belong to.^[23]

Notes:

Yên Hòa Ward has long been dubbed one of the three core areas of tradition in capital city Hà Nội. This area still retains many historical sites,^[50] and is also known as the birthplace of many notable persons and developed professions.^[51]

Relics

According to old maps, during the period from 1873 to 1882, when conflict between French and Annamese forces was intense, the area that is now Yên Hòa Ward was originally the boundary between two provinces Hà Nội and Hà Đông. Its location in the southwest of the Hà Nội Citadel, where the Tô Lịch River and a dense swampy area are situated, has inadvertently helped it preserve a system of old relics.^[49]

Following the official establishment of the ward-level administrative unit in 2025, the authority has compiled some statistics on the system of historical sites, which have existed since at least the 1980s and are associated with the period preceding the new ward. However, due to their sheer number, only three structures are considered representative based on their importance in local beliefs and the number of festivals associated with them in a year. In a more specific way : Trung Kính Thượng and Trung Kính Hạ Temples, where only one deity is worshipped, who received official respect from the Nguyễn Dynasty^[52] ; Dục Anh Temple, where are associated with the Mother Goddess religion, were recognized by the Nguyễn Dynasty in 1889 and 1924, respectively, and were classified as "historical and architectural relics" by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1992.^[53]

Besides religious significance, Yên Hòa Ward has also been fertile ground for the development of knowledge and literature since the Lê Dynasty. This is evident not only in the number of scholars whose names are inscribed on stone steles at the Temple of Literature, but also in the names of many prominent figures who lived and died under all modern Vietnamese regimes. Some of these structures are still preserved intact today, including:

• House numbers from 1236 to 1248 at Láng Boulevard, with the semi-official name the Memorial Area of Poet Tú Mỡ.^{[note 6]} A fully furnished house on a 1000m² plot of land, built in 1935 according to the design of architect Nguyễn Cao Luyện. The house adheres to the "house of light"^{[note 7]} style of the Self-Reliant Literary Group, with all the bricks ordered from Bát Tràng village. This was one of the familiar addresses for scholars and artists in North Vietnam from its inauguration until Tú Mỡ's death.^[54] In 2015, when the Hanoi City People's Committee simultaneously implemented two projects – the "Expansion of Cầu Giấy Intersection" and the "Elevated Railway Line" – the expansion of Láng Boulevard resulted in a loss of one-third of the land area. This drew public condemnation because the memorial site became dilapidated.^[55] After most of the house's structure was demolished, what remained was renovated to become Café 1238. This address continues to be a meeting place for Hanoian writers.^[56]
• Trung Kính Hạ Cultural House, where was constructed right at the beginning of the State of Vietnam regime, serving as the headquarters of the local police force. Over the years, its architecture has remained virtually unchanged. At times it served as a community cultural center, and at other times it was used for two functions: A fitness and gym center during the day, and the office of the civil defense force at night. The grounds of this historical site have long been used to preserve several very old stone steles from Trung Kính Hạ Village.

• Gate of Dịch Vọng Hậu Village
• Gate of Trung Kính Hạ Village
• Old gate at Trung Kính Hạ Village
• Trung Kính Hạ Hall
• Trung Kính Hạ Patron Temple
• Thần Nông Shrine
• Old well of Trung Kính Hạ Village
• Trung Kính Hạ Cultural House
• Old stele inside Trung Kính Hạ Cultural House
• Mother Goddess Shrine
• Nguyễn Đức family shrine
• Trần Khánh family shrine
• Poet Tú Mỡ's Memorial Area before demolition
• Diagram of Trung Kính Hạ Village 1970
• Diagram of Trung Kính Hạ Village 1970

Modern sites

• Yên Hòa Parkview City
• Keangnam Hanoi Landmark 72
• Hanoi Museum
• National Archives Centre I
• Vimeco II Apartments
• Trung Yên Plaza
• Eurowindow Multi Complex
• Hồng Vận Hotel
• Hotel The Hanoi Central City
• Coq d'Or Restaurant
• Vincom City Center
• Trung Yên 1 Apartments
• Quốc Sỹ Apartments
• Mandarin Garden Apartments
• Yên Hòa Sunshine Apartments

• Dongsim Kindergarten
• Red Moon Preschool
• RoyalKidz Montessori Kindergarten
• Green Island International Kindergarten
• Trung Hòa Primary School
• Hanoi Star Education System
• Lý Thái Tổ Schools
• Hanoiamsterdam High School
• Hanoi Community College
• Phương Đông University
• University of Labour and Social Affairs
• Archimedes Academy
• Point Avenue PTE^{[note 8]}
• Peace School

Pre-1986

Modern

• Phường Yên Hòa tự hào là vùng đất khoa cử
• Phường Yên Hòa lấy truyền thống “Đất tứ danh hương” thành động lực, khâu đột phá trong kỷ nguyên mới
• Phường Yên Hòa xử lý nhiều “điểm nóng” về trật tự đô thị
• Phố Yên Hòa đi lại khó khăn vì lòng đường nhỏ, sạp hàng chật kín vỉa hè
• Cháy nhà ở Trung Kính, 14 người chết
• Robot pha đồ, bưng bê tại quán cà phê ở Hà Nội