A corner of Ho Chi Minh City
Speaking at a workshop on the urban management of HCM City on Thursday, Chinh proposed two expansion plans for the country’s biggest commercial hub to cope with the rapid population growth and tough challenges facing urban development in the area.
Both plans aim to merge additional areas of neighbouring Long An Province into the city, using the Vam Co Dong River as a natural boundary which means Can Giuoc and Can Duoc districts and part of Ben Luc District will be part of the expanded city.
However, the extra area in the first plan covers only some 48,000-50,000 hectares with a population of between 370,000-420,000, while that in second plan spans up to 90,000-95,000 hectares to include Duc Hoa District with a population of 65,000-70,000.
As such, the entire area of HCM City would increase by between 50 and 95 square kilometres from the current 2,096 square kilometres.
Addressing the workshop, former director of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies, Nguyen Trong Hoa, said that the city’s urban development should follow an “oil spill” approach, with development based on easier access to road transportation.
He warned that if municipal authorities are not quick in changing their mindset in terms of management and regional development planning, the situation would result in major shortcomings in the future. At that point, the fix will be costly, and some regions in the city will not be able to overcome the obstacles.
In his view, authorities should not assume that injecting more money into urban development will cause their entire region to develop. He stressed that the current urban management lacks a systematic approach and regional synchronicity.
Meanwhile, head of the Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning, Luu Duc Cuong warned about the increasing sinking of many areas in the city.
“As many as 79 out of 116 streets which are constantly affected by tide floods are sinking at an alarming level,” Cuong said.
Addressing the workshop, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan admitted that it was difficult for the city to deal with a rapid population growth rate of 1 million people every five years.
Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan speaks at the workshop
“Uneven population distribution is also posing challenges for administration management in the city,” he added. “Five inner districts with a very small area (the smallest district covering only five km2) but house as many as 600,000 people while Can Gio District expands 704km2 but has only 70,000 people.”
Nhan said that the two largest districts of Cu Chi and Can Gio occupy 54% of the city total area but their populations make up only 10%.
“Therefore, HCM City intends to use the land in Cu Chi and Can Gio districts first for future development,” the city’s party chief confirmed.
Source: Dtinews