Hòa Hưng (Vietnamese: ) is a ward of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is one of the city's 168 new wards, communes and special zones following the 2025 Vietnamese administrative reforms, as stated under Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam.
Etymology
The name "Hòa Hưng" has two origins, and is often used interchangeably with the historic name: "Chí Hòa".
Locally, the name "Hòa Hưng" originated from an old hamlet once part of the former Dương Hòa Thượng canton, Gia Định province. Back in 1818, "Hòa Hưng" also originally referred to a village of the same province, specifically Tân Hưng village – located in Bình Trị canton (which eventually came to be known as Bình Chánh Thượng canton), Bình Dương district, Gia Định.
Following administrative reforms in July of 2025, it was decided that the newly-formed ward would be named Hòa Hưng, due to the name's historical and cultural significance in the area.
The name Chí Hòa has multiple origins, one of which states the name originated from another, separate hamlet, spanning from (in modern-day Tân Sơn Nhất and Tân Sơn Hòa) to the Dân Chủ Roundabout. Historically, the name was used interchangeably with "Kỳ Hòa", which was reborrowed from the French term: "Ki-hoa"; a modification of the original name.
History
Under French rule Under French rule, what was once the hamlet (or village) of Hòa Hưng was said to have partly encompassed the territories of both modern-day Hòa Hưng and Diên Hồng ward.
Prior to 1975 During the onset of the Tet Offensive, an unorganized mass burial of hundreds of armymen, majority of whom were part of the National Liberation Front, had occurred on the 12th of February, 1968 at the Chí Hòa - Chợ Quán Cemetery (modern-day Lê Thị Riêng Cultural Park). Excavation efforts, however, weren't underway until the 21st century.
The outline of modern-day Hòa Hưng ward apparently resembles that of the former Chí Hòa ward of District 10, which had been established as part of District 10's four new wards in 1969 (prior to its dissolution in 1976).
Post-1975 On the 14th of February, 1987, under Resolution 33-HĐBT, various adjustments were made to District 10's constituent wards, three of which included:
The renaming of Ward 21 and Ward 20 to form Ward 12 and Ward 14, respectively. The merging of the former Ward 24 with a portion of the former Ward 23 to form "Ward 13". The merging of the former Ward 25 with the remaining portion of the former Ward 23 to form "Ward 15".
On the 16th of June, 2025, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the rearrangement of commune-level administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City in 2025. Under Article 1, Clause 27 (which was set to take effect on the 1st of July, 2025), the entirety of wards 12 & 13, along with a portion of Ward 14 in the former District 10, were merged to form the newly-established "Hòa Hưng ward".
On May 2026, the stated they had retrieved sufficient information from witness accounts on the mass burials which had taken place in 1968. Following efforts to verify and confirm the location of said burials, search efforts would officially commence on the 6th of July at the Lê Thị Riêng Cultural Park.
On the 24th of July, another burial site, located 100 meters from where excavations first took place, was discovered at the park. By the 17th of August, a total of 358 martyrs (of which 201 were buried alongside various relics discovered. By the 22nd of August, that number had risen to 445. As of the 25th of September, 2026, there have been a total of 665 discovered martyrs.
Geography
Hòa Hưng is located roughly around the geographic center of Ho Chi Minh City, roughly 5 kilometers northwest of Sài Gòn ward, and borders Tân Hòa to the north, Nhiêu Lộc to the northeast/east, Vườn Lài to the south, and Diên Hồng to the west. The ward has a total area of 2.59 km². Administrative divisions Hòa Hưng is currently divided into 26 neighborhoods (khu phố), numbered from '1' to '26', across a total of 23,269 officially-recognized households (2026). Administrative history Immediately following the ward's establishment, however, Hòa Hưng was initially divided into 41 neighborhoods, numbered '1' to '41'.
In May of 2026, as part of Decree No. 185/2026/NĐ-CP by the Government of Vietnam and Plan No. 249/KH-UBND by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on the rearrangement of neighborhoods (khu phố), hamlets (ấp, thôn), and residential areas (khu dân cư), Hòa Hưng would reduce its number of neighborhoods from 41 to 26. Demographics According to Dispatch No. 2896/BNV-CQĐP enacted by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the 27th of May, 2025, Hòa Hưng ward had a total population of 96,414 and a population density of roughly 37.225 people per km² (as recorded on the 31st of December, 2024).
Economy
In 2025, the total value of production in Hòa Hưng reached a growth rate of over 10.7%. In the same year, the total state budget revenue exceeded 2 trillion VND (approx. $76.04 million USD in December 2025), whereas local budget revenue reached nearly 30 billion VND (approx. $1.14 million USD in December 2025); each achieving 130% and 207.25% of their respective targets.
Commerce Hoà Hưng’s commercial scene plays a pivotal role in the ward’s economy and culture, ranging from tourism (e.g. medical tourism) to food and entertainment. Moreover, they are prevalent — although not exclusively found — among Hoà Hưng’s two existing "specialized commercial streets". Commercial streets/areas (Tuyến phố chuyên doanh) There currently exists two commercial streets in modern-day Hòa Hưng: the "District 10 Health Street" (Phố sức khỏe Quận 10) on Sư Vạn Hạnh St. and the "Construction Materials Street" (Phố chuyên doanh vật liệu xây dựng) on Thành Thái and Tô Hiến Thành St; both of which were established in mid-2023 to aid in economic and commercial development.
The "District 10 Health Street" (Phố sức khỏe Quận 10) is an officially-designated, 2,800 meter-long "health street", spanning across the entire segment of Sư Vạn Hạnh St. situated in modern-day Hòa Hưng ward (from the intersection at Ba Tháng Hai Street to Tô Hiến Thành Street). The health street originally came about in July 2023 alongside other state-funded projects aimed at "the development of medical tourism and ways of combining it with other local services such as entertainment, shopping, and tourist accommodations".
Hence, despite being a health street on paper, the area still offers various other commercial services, notably in places such as Vạn Hạnh Mall.
On the other hand, the "Construction Materials Street" (Phố chuyên doanh vật liệu xây dựng) sits on Thành Thái and Tô Hiến Thành St; an overwhelming majority of which is part of modern-day Hòa Hưng. It was established following a period of income slowdown in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, in an attempt to "effectively manage" and restore the development of businesses in the area.
Immediately after the street's grand opening in April 2023, there was reported to have been from 147 to 150 businesses, specializing in manufactured goods as well as raw materials.
Markets Aside from commercial streets and unofficial street markets, the ward harbors two traditional indoor markets; more specifically Hòa Hưng Market and Chí Hòa Market. Both specialize in a plethora of commodities.
Among the two, Hòa Hưng Market stands out as the largest and oldest-surviving indoor market in the area. Founded in the early 1960s, the market would undergo various renovations three decades into its existence, including expansions to the market's total area. A gradual decline in sales has raised concerns regarding the market's future livelihood.
The GO! Miền Đông Market (formerly the Big C Miền Đông Market) is a hypermarket which specializes in a variety of general goods and services. One of the many GO! locations in Vietnam, the market is owned by Central Retail, a public subsidiary of the Thai conglomerate Central Group.
Culture
Religion Buddhism and Catholicism are the two predominant religions in Hòa Hưng.
The "Việt Nam Quốc Tự" (Chữ Hán: 越南國寺; ) is a 63-metre, 13-storey Mahayana Buddhist pagoda, located just opposite Vườn Lài on Ba Tháng Hai Street.
The tallest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Việt Nam Quốc Tự serves as one of the city's central religious sites; known for housing the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City Standing Management Board of the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha as well as the sacred heart relic of Venerable Thích Quảng Đức.
List of places of worship NameAddressViệt Nam Quốc Tự (越南國寺)244 Ba Tháng Hai Bửu Đà Pagoda419/11 Cách Mạng Tháng TámHòa Hưng Church104 Tô Hiến ThànhĐồng Tiến Church54 Thành TháiAlley 475 Cách Mạng Tháng Tám
Arts
Theatres Adjacent to Việt Nam Quốc Tự is the Hòa Bình Theater (), which hosts a wide range of shows, including but not exclusive to: variety music shows, art performances, cultural events and films..., within its 2000-seat auditorium. A multi-use theater, films are aired from 4 PM daily (with exceptions for certain events & performances), during which the auditorium hall would be repurposed into a movie theatre.
Museums The Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine (or the "FITO Museum") is a medical museum, housed in a six-storey building spanning a total area of nearly 600m². Its 3,000 medicine-related replicas and artifacts — including historic medicinal documents, pharmaceutical tools and containers — are situated across 18 exhibition rooms throughout the facility. The museum also features various specimens of plants, animals and minerals each used for medicinal purposes.
Notable people
(1709 - 1792), scholar and renowned teacher of 18th-century Gia Định, known in the area for establishing and teaching at a school at , communal house of the former hamlet / village of Hòa Hưng.
Sports and recreation
Parks
The Lê Thị Riêng Cultural Park is a 9 ha (22.2-acre) park surrounded by streets: Cách Mạng Tháng Tám to the north, Trường Sơn to the east/southeast, and Bắc Hải to the west/northwest. South-east of the park, there consists of 3 tennis courts and 2 swimming pools, which are under the management of their two, respective clubs: the Lê Thị Riêng Park Tennis Club and the Lê Thị Riêng Swimming Club (as part of the "Nhân Thư Sports Centre").
The artificial lake in the heart of the area acts as a recreational fishing spot. Within the park's east and northeast sections is the smaller, Thỏ Trắng Amusement Park (Thiên đường Giải trí Thỏ Trắng; ), a private amusement park owned by a joint stock company of the same name. At the heart of the amusement park is a recreation center (among many operated by leisure company Jump Arena), famous for its trampolines and other sports activities offered.
Defunct parks Historically, there had existed the Kỳ Hòa Park (or the Hồ Kỳ Hòa Park), a 14 ha park which emerged as one of Ho Chi Minh City's "top 3 entertainment areas" alongside Đầm Sen Park and Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in the 1990s. The park would gradually cease operations in the years which followed; the area it once stood being replaced by restaurants, pubs and other buildings, with "not a single trace" of the ferris wheel deemed 'iconic' to the park. The name "Kỳ Hòa", however, is still retained when referring to the area, as is Hòa Hưng as a whole.
Others Other recreational places include the Nguyễn Tri Phương Swimming Pool and CITIGYM on Thành Thái St.
Government HeadquartersAddressThe Party Committee, the People's Council, the People's Committee & Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hòa Hưng WardTT20 Tam Đảo St.Public Administration Service Center of Hòa Hưng WardPeople's Police of Hòa Hưng WardMain location: 436/9 Ba Tháng Hai St.On-call criminal duties: 436/5 Ba Tháng Hai St.Military Command of Hòa Hưng WardA4 - A8 Châu Thới St.
Infrastructure