Hanoi’s seemingly endless appetite to build itself up and tear itself down is relatively new. For the majority of its 1,000-year history, it was a small city, with never more than 400,000 inhabitants. It endured wars, heavy bombing and agriculture campaigns that kept its population growing modestly. The 1980s however brought dramatic change. Increasing stability and economic reforms led to a massive rural-to-urban migration. Hanoi’s population began to grow by 3% a year, reaching three million by 1990.