Cầu Giấy (anglicized as Cau Giay) is an urban district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.

With a population of roughly 300,000, Cầu Giấy hosts many administrative and corporate headquarters within the Trung Hoà–Nhân Chính urban area.

Cầu Giấy is also considered to be an education hub of Hanoi due to its high concentration of universities and magnet schools.

The district contains only a few tourist landmarks such as Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hà Temple, and Mai Dịch Cemetery.

[6] Present-day Cầu Giấy district was a rural agricultural area and lay within the periphery of Thăng Long.

Cầu Giấy was part of Từ Liêm district, under the jurisdiction of Quốc Oai prefecture, Sơn Tây province.

[7]In the 12th year of Emperor Minh Mạng's reign (1831), the Nguyễn dynasty carried out administrative reforms, dividing the country into 29 provinces.

The capital, Thăng Long, became a provincial city, and the area fell under Hoài Đức prefecture in Hà Nội province.

[7] In mid-1941, Cầu Giấy was chosen by the Viet Minh as a secret base, serving as a key communication hub.

[10] The modern incarnation of Cầu Giấy district was formulated on 22 November 1996,[11][12] via the merger of four towns (Cầu Giấy, Nghĩa Đô, Nghĩa Tân, Mai Dịch) and three communes (Dịch Vọng, Yên Hòa, Trung Hòa) within the old Từ Liêm district.

[13][11] Most residents received the district establishment positively, as it is closely related to hopes that new symbolic, infrastructural, and economic improvements.

[14] The district's establishment was a decade after Đổi Mới economic reforms was initiated in 1986, when Vietnam was one of the least-developed countries.

[15] In 1997, Cầu Giấy district's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) is 120 billion VND[7] (US$10.8 million in that year's exchange rate);[16] two decades later in 2016, Cầu Giấy's GRDP is 206,000 billion VND[7] (US$9050 million in that year's exchange rate), a two orders of magnitude increase.

Most coverage about this problem in Cầu Giấy surrounds the Vòng villages that produce cốm, a dessert made from sweet glutinous rice and staple of Hanoi cuisine.

In one case, the government mistakenly issued a construction permit to a woman's family despite the land being part of a planned development project.

[24] Real estate speculation is rampant in Cầu Giấy; when a plan to rebuild the deteriorating Nghĩa Tân residential area was announced, land price surged to 50 million VND (2080 USD)[a] per square meter.

A study by Vietnam National University in 2022 determined that most of the air pollution in Cầu Giấy is caused by particulates.

During the French Indochina period, the colonial government grouped Tiên Thượng, Trung Nha, Vạn Long and An Phú into a "Nghĩa Đô" village/ward.

[2]: 60 From 1997 to 2016, Cầu Giấy district's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) experienced immense growth, from 120[7] to 206,000 billion VND[7] (10.8[16] to US$9050 million USD[17] in that year's exchange rate).

[55] The agricultural sector, which was a significant portion of the district's economy when Cầu Giấy was established, had effectively disappeared.

[57][58] Leadership roles in Cầu Giấy district are not democratically elected by the citizens but rather appointed by the People's Committee or the Communist Party itself.

[76][77] As a major point in United States–Vietnam relations, a new $1.2 billion U.S. embassy compound spanning 3.2 hectares will be located in Cầu Giấy and will be leased for 99 years.

Both are heavily degraded, with cracked pathways, benches, and playgrounds, to the point that some residents use them as waste disposal sites.

[81] The historic Paper Bridge now become part of a large two-way Cầu Giấy Road, going from east to west, leading towards National Route 32.

This led to residential "streets" in historical villages that are practically twisting alleyways, 1–1.5 meters wide, sandwiched against slender tube houses.

[94] Hanoi's first dedicated shared-use path is at the border of Cầu Giấy, near Tô Lịch River, but it remains unpopular among residents due to pollution.