The upgrade of several streets and other urban infrastructure projects in HCM City over recent years has led to the rise of many slim strangely-shaped houses, forcing owners to adapt to their new lives.

On the Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi Road, one of the key routes in the city, many such homes have been built. Local people here avoid leaving a single metre of land unused. At the intersection of Phan Van Tri and Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi, there is a triangle two-storey house, about 1.5-metres wide and 4-metres long, looking like a billboard from a distance.

According to the contractor of the road project, they could only perform site clearance within the road area, and the remaining plots, however small, belong to the original owners.

So far, the owners continue to use their little remaining space, doing business and other activities right along the roadside. Many of these plots are quite valuable.

Mrs. Vo Thi Sang, 64, said that when the road project started, she had to change her house design plan."In a big city like this one, the land along the road is very valuable. We have to try to adapt to this inconvenience,” she said. 

Unique staircase to the house

No way for a motorbike

On the Highway 50, from Nguyen Van Linh Street (District 7) to the end of Binh Chanh District, there are dozens of houses which lie 0.5 -2 metres lower than the road’s surface because the municipal government upgraded this road to avoid flooding during the rainy season.

According to Vice Chairman of Phong Phu Commune, Binh Chanh District, Vo Dinh Tham, local authorities will try to create favorable conditions to help people repair their homes or raise the foundations.”