Workers (C) collect scrap metal from the rubble of residential buildings as excavators are seen at a demolition site to make way for an expanded road network in Hanoi on May 18, 2026. 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. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with 'VIETNAM-ECONOMY-INFRASTRUCTURE-RIGHTS-HANOI,FOCUS' by Lam Nguyen and Ty McCormick