Kuala Lumpur has slowly and steadily been building out an urban rail transit system that it hopes will reduce the city’s car addiction. Mistakes were made early on with integrating the lines, but there have been some great improvements in recent years. In fact, KL has examples of the best and worst ways to make […]
Penang construction update – 2022 edition
Penang is a state in Malaysia that is split between the island of Penang and the opposing land on the mainland. There is a new island being reclaimed off the north coast of Penang, and there are contentious plans for three more islands to the south. This article is an overview of what is planned […]
Kuala Lumpur construction update – 2022 edition
Kuala Lumpur has some big-ticket projects under construction, including the first megatall skyscraper in Southeast Asia. Like the rest of Southeast Asia, Malaysia had an international lockout when Covid broke out in 2020, and it didn’t fully reopen until 2022. This affected projects that rely on migrant labour, but the projects that were already funded […]
Ho Chi Minh City Metro 2022 construction update
Ho Chi Minh City is in the midst of building its first metro line, and planning for at least another 10 lines. Every year I do a “State of the Metro” report to follow the construction progress and other lines under consideration (here are the 2020 and 2021 reports). Another year has gone by and […]
Hanoi Metro 2022 construction update
This is the second Hanoi Metro Report at Future Southeast Asia (the first one being in 2020). These construction updates are an annual snapshot of construction progress and notable news over the last year. I missed the 2021 update due to the pandemic, so I was happy to be able to return to Hanoi and […]
Hanoi Line 2A review: riding the first metro railway in Vietnam
Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro opened on November 6th 2021, making it the first urban rail transit line in Vietnam. I have been watching this line slowly (very slowly) get built while I have been based in Vietnam. I visited Hanoi in 2020 thinking that my metro report would include a review of the […]
Hue construction update – 2022 edition
This is a trip report for major projects in the city of Hue in Vietnam. A full list of projects can be found on the Future Thua Thien Hue page. Hue Construction Projects Hue Square Location: 44-54 Le Loi, Phu Hoi Ward, Hue. Hue Square is a 9-storey hotel project near the walking street tourist area by […]
Future Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam – Hue and province construction, transport, and infrastructure projects
Thua Thien Hue is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. The capital of Hue is one of the most historic cities in Vietnam, with the Hue Citadel being the seat of the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Outside of the historic area, Hue is a growing provincial capital, with a new […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2022 edition
This is the 4th annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update at Future Southeast Asia. (If you are new to the site, here are the updates for 2019, 2020, and 2021.) This update features some of the most prominent projects that are under construction, and projects that have had noteable news updates over the past […]
Laos-China Railway review – observations while riding the train from Vientiane to Boten
The Laos-China Railway opened in December 2021, and I would have tried to get a ticket on the inaugural trip had the borders been open. I was in Thailand when Laos reopened on the 9th of May, so I took the opportunity to visit shortly thereafter. I have written a Laos-China Railway travel guide on […]
