Abstract
The rapid developments in Vietnam since economic reforms have led to a transformation of urban mobility. In less than 20 years, motorbike ownership increased more than tenfold, and there are now about 58 million motorbikes in the country. While the two-wheelers dominate traffic, car ownership has increased rapidly in the past decade. Based on ‘motorbike ethnography’ in the streetscapes of Hanoi, this chapter considers the changing practices and meanings of motorised mobility in Vietnam’s capitalist transformations. It focuses on two main aspects: the everyday geography of the ‘system of moto-mobility’, and the emergence of a new automobility regime. The chapter finds that although motorbikes still dominate in Hanoi, automobility is becoming progressively normalized.
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Notes
- 1.
As is common practice in Vietnam, I use the term ‘motorbike’ to refer to most two-wheelers, although I use ‘motorcycle’ when discussing vehicles with large engines. Most motorbikes in Vietnam range between 50 and 150 cc, and many of them would elsewhere be known as scooters.
- 2.
The global motorbike market is indeed expanding. However, I am not convinced that considering any of these systems as self-expanding is a very helpful starting point. As any other commodity, cars and motorbikes depend on systems of provision, institutional arrangements and flows of goods. There is a complex range of agents involved in global and local mobilities, from individual users to large manufacturers, with local and national governments as strong mediators.
- 3.
While driving in Hanoi was an overall pleasurable experience, it also involved exposure to high levels of air pollution and involvement in several near-accidents.
- 4.
See Hansen (2017) for a discussion of the dialectical relationship between infrastructure and two-wheeled mobility in Hanoi.
- 5.
By the time of writing, 22,000 VND = approximately 1 US Dollar.
- 6.
The police was a popular topic in my interviews. Almost all of my informants had at some point in their lives been stopped by the police, and there was general agreement that if you are unlucky, the police will always find a reason to fine you. Standard practice for fines is that the police will often take your motorbike until you have been to the police station to pay the fine. As getting by without the motorbike is not a tempting scenario for most Hanoians, the problem is usually solved through directly paying the fine to the police officer, usually without any kind of receipt. I experienced this myself during fieldwork in 2017, but my fine was considerably higher than the standard.
- 7.
In contrast to regular taxis, a xe ôm traditionally does not operate with meters or fixed prices. Metered motorbike taxis have been tried, but now app-based ‘sharing’ services have taken over big shares of the market (see Hansen et al., 2020; Turner & Hanh, 2019). See also Sopranzetti (2014) for an interesting discussion of the social and political roles of motorbike taxis in Thailand.
- 8.
Indeed, Piaggio has established Vietnam as its manufacturing base for Southeast Asia.
- 9.
In all my prying about cars, the prevalence of big cars was either explained as a status symbol or by the fact that the roads outside the city are often in a very bad condition (reinforcing the point that driving long distance is an important reason for Hanoians to buy cars).
- 10.
While I do not have a convincing explanation for this phenomenon, at least part of the answer may be found in a traditionally stronger focus on status and prestige in the former communist capital versus the more liberal southern parts of the country with their relatively short and shallower experience with communism and historically stronger presence of foreign consumer goods. Many of my informants referred to people in the South as ‘more relaxed’.
- 11.
Interestingly, informants explained to me that if the car looks particularly luxurious, perhaps even with a conspicuous licence plate, the police would usually not stop it. Although a very expensive car could signify a profitable ‘client’, it also means that its driver probably has very powerful political connections.
- 12.
Arguably no one is ‘old rich’ in Hanoi, but there are significant differences between those highly educated and politically connected, and those mainly possessing newly acquired economic capital (see Huong Le Thu, 2015 for a recent discussion on class categorization in Vietnam).
- 13.
This is a topic that sparked much discussion in my interviews. While opinions varied as to the importance of lucky numbers, even those seeing the practice as rather ‘silly superstition’ would normally prefer a nice number for their licence plate.
- 14.
According to World Bank (2015) data, Vietnam’s GNI per capita in 2014 was USD 1890. By contrast, Indonesia’s GNI per capita was twice as high (USD 3630), Thailand’s almost three times as high (USD 5370), China’s almost four times as high (USD 7380), and Malaysia’s more than five times as high (USD 10,760). Vietnam’s GNI per capita was slightly higher than India (USD 1570), which by comparison in 2015 had a motorisation rate of 22 (OICA, 2014).
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Hansen, A. (2022). Wheels of Change: Motorbikes, Cars and Capitalism. In: Consumption and Vietnam’s New Middle Classes. Consumption and Public Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14167-6_4
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