Night-time Gathering Spaces Revitalize Urban Living in Ho Chi Minh City

Summary

• Nomura Real Estate, together with design and consulting partners, launches a ‘Night Park’ initiative to enhance community life in residential developments.
• This article is published with permission from NNA Co., Ltd., a provider of Asian economic and business news.
• The original article was published on February 5, 2026, on the official NNA website: https://www.nna.jp/

【Background / Details】

Nomura Real Estate launched a new project in January to revive traditional community gathering spaces at night within a residential development zone in Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam. In collaboration with Studio Anettai, a Japanaffiliated architectural design firm based in Ho Chi Minh City, and NEWSKOOL, a consulting company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, the team installed illuminated tables and other amenities in public areas of the development. The aim is to create safe and welcoming nighttime spaces where people of all ages can enjoy themselves during the cooler evening hours.

In Vietnam—where daytime temperatures are often extremely high—it is common for children to play outdoors at night and for people of all ages to spend time outside. However, such communal spaces have been rapidly disappearing due to accelerated urbanization.

Nomura Real Estate hopes to develop expertise in revitalizing these nighttime gathering spaces in urban environments, ultimately enhancing the value of its properties. The company is also considering the possibility of “reimporting” this concept back to Japan in the future, as the country increasingly faces prolonged periods of extreme heat.

The Night Park pilot began in January at two locations within Vinhomes Grand Park, a large urban township in northeastern Ho Chi Minh City. At Grand Park, Nomura Real Estate Vietnam, together with Vinhomes and Mitsubishi Corporation, has been developing condominium projects such as The Origami. The township is home to around 40,000 households, primarily middleincome families.

Within the development site, the team installed long tables equipped with roofs, lighting, sinks, and chairs. The area, once an underused corner of the site, soon attracted residents after the installation of lighting. When the site was visited around 6:00 PM one evening in early January, young people were dining at the tables while parents taught their children to ride bicycles nearby. Shoppers returning home paused on benches to watch their children play. The lively atmosphere continued well past 8:00 PM.

Residents who stopped by reacted positively when staff explained the concept. Many expressed gratitude for having a free place to bring their children and suggested creating a social media group chat for sharing event information. Nobuaki Higashi, President of Nomura Real Estate Vietnam, pointed out that many new residential districts increasingly rely on theme-park-like facilities or standardized playground equipment, reducing opportunities for informal, organic social interaction. The Night Park is designed to provide a flexible, non-prescriptive space where residents can gather freely.

Takahito Yamada, the head of Studio Anettai, emphasized that the project aims to evolve based on how residents naturally use the space. Starting January 10, the team collaborated with a local startup specializing in public-space design to install a gardening area. Seedlings were distributed to residents, who first nurtured them in the park and later took them home. A plant sketching workshop held on January 24 attracted families and older residents alike.

The first phase of the Night Park demonstration concluded before the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, but the seedlings grown through workshops are intended to remain with residents, fostering continued care and connection at home. The initiative draws on the Vietnamese cultural tradition of creating green spaces at the boundary between home and public space, such as balconies and entryways.

In the gardening area, children were observed joyfully collaborating at water pumps, watering plants together. Yoshihito Kamada, CEO of NEWSKOOL, explained that giving residents small roles help create a sense of active participation, which is an important factor in the project’s success.
For Nomura Real Estate Vietnam, an immediate priority is to raise resident satisfaction and strengthen the brand value of its developments. Over the medium term, the company hopes to introduce Night Park concepts to other residential projects and potentially create standalone public Night Parks in general parks or even after-hours museum spaces.

Tomotaka Yoshida, Head of Design at Nomura Real Estate Vietnam, highlighted the importance of developing expertise in creating and managing natural, welcoming community spaces that cannot easily be replicated by competitors. The company hopes the initiative will provide families with valuable shared time, such as parents and children spending more relaxed evenings together.

Looking further ahead, the company envisions exporting the Night Park concept back to Japan. Following the record-breaking heat of the 2024–2025 summers, daytime outdoor activity has become increasingly difficult in Japan. Drawing inspiration from subtropical cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Nomura Real Estate hopes to help enrich Japan’s nighttime lifestyle while addressing climate challenges.