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This research investigates the spatial mismatch between the distribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the configurational characteristics of street networks in Hanoi's urban districts. Two indicators are employed to represent the connectivity of street networks generated by space syntax methodology, global integration for vehicular movements and local integration for pedestrian traffic. Findings reveal that FDI clusters have preferred areas highly connected by arterial roads, including traditional commercial centres and new suburban locations, confirming that FDI is spatially matched with vehicle-oriented street networks. However, the major FDI clusters have been established without tight connections to street networks for pedestrians. The findings shed light on the new spatiality of global capital accumulation that expedites an unsustainable, vehicle-oriented urban structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a core element for global capital flows and a key driver for urban transformation. However, the ways in which FDI flows have been associated with the production of new urban spaces have attracted little academic attention. This research investigates how FDI activities have led to the migration of expatriate workers and their family members who have established ethnic enclaves in search of liveable environments. The paper focuses on the case of Korean activities in the Hanoi Capital Region (HCR) where the growing volume of FDI has facilitated two bipartite activities in geographically separate locations: one in production space for industrial activities in regional areas and the other in the social space for residential and commercial activities in new urban cores. The case study of Korean FDI, the largest investors in Vietnam, and in particular the HCR, depicts wider perspectives beyond a single industrial sector. This research sheds light on new aspects of recent changes in Hanoi, borne of cross-border capital and human mobilities. The ethnic residential enclaves are largely self-contained for intense social interactions, used as a tool to enhance liveability and bounded within commuting distance from the industrial sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Real estate FDI is associated with overall FDI processes. • International real estate investment is growing in volume. • Real estate FDI facilitates urban changes. • Korean residents are growing in Hanoi due to the inflow of Korean FDI. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been recognised as a major influence upon urban development within emerging economies. As the focus of production shifted toward higher skills and advanced technologies, expatriate high-skilled employees of the Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) began to play a significant role in FDI projects and recipient cities begin to experience urban development associated with residential development and community services for the settlement of these expatriate staff. This research reports on the experience of Korean investment in real estate following earlier projects in manufacturing activity in the Hanoi Capital Region. Korean investors are currently the largest FDI source in Vietnam and Hanoi has been favoured by them. The purpose of this research is to examine that the urban impact of manufacturing FDI on a recipient city is magnified by its connections with Real estate FDI (RFDI) in a way that it spurs (1) intensified real estate development, (2) the creation of new urban cores, and (3) new commuting patterns. The clustering of Korea-specific residential development and service functions is a contribution to change in Hanoi. The Korean-built housing complexes have transplanted Korean-style housing design into gated communities and the residents continue their Korean life-styles with easy access to language-specific community facilities. This research sheds light on the coalescent nature of RFDI with overall FDI via flows of MNEs and expatriate staff that can generate direct and indirect spatial impacts at project, city and regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]