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Mega-city to be Asian hub

Update: April, 26/2010 - 23:37

HCM City has big plans to become a major economic centre, with a projected population of up to 30 million by 2050. Pham Hoang Nam reports.

Bridges so far: Many crossings, including the Thu Thiem and the Sai Gon bridges in HCM City have made a significant change to the city's traffic flow. VNA/VNS Photo Trong Duc
Asian hub: Tourists visit gardens in front of the HCM City People's Committee headquarters. The city, with its many attractions, such as Lotus Pond (Dam Sen) Park and Stream of Fairies (Suoi Tien) tourism areas, lures the highest number of foreign visitors in Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu
Skilled workforce paramount: Quality of human resources is decisive in any new urban planning scheme. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy
Making headway: Nguyen Van Linh Highway in District 7 has helped ease the traffic congestion in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong
Since it was established more than 300 years ago, HCM City has become the most important commercial centre in Viet Nam, with rapid growth in recent years, fueling the trend and attracting huge amounts of foreign investment.

To enhance even more growth, city authorities are considering two ambitious plans, one of them drawn up by the Ministry of Construction.

Under one proposal, the new HCM City region would cover the current city and the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Long An, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Tien Giang, an area of 30,404sq km.

Currently, this area represents half of the country's GDP, 57 per cent of industrial production, 60 per cent of export turnover and 47 per cent of State budget contributions. HCM City alone accounts for one-fifth of the country's GDP, and one-third of State budget contributions.

The goal is for the area to become a major economic hub for Asia by 2050 and the key economic region of Viet Nam, with high and sustainable economic growth rates.

Under the plan, by 2020, the area would have 20-22 million people, more than 2.5 times the current population, and by 2050, 28-30 million.

By 2020, the area would largely be urban, with dedicated financial, industrial and eco-tourism development areas.

The central area with a diameter of 30km would encompass the nucleus of HCM City; independent satellite cities (Bien Hoa, Thu Dau Mot); dependent satellite urban areas (Nhon Trach, Cu Chi, Duc Hoa, Long Thanh, Nha Be, Can Gio, Di An); and adjacent urban areas (Dau Giay, My Phuoc, Ben Luc and Can Giuoc).

Urban areas would be divided into national general urban areas (HCM City, Vung Tau, My Tho, Bien Hoa, Thu Dau Mot, and Tay Ninh); urban areas specialising in scientific services (Tam Phuoc); border urban areas (Moc Bai, Xa Mat); a scientific urban zone (Long Thanh); tourism urban areas (Long Hai, Thac Mo); and urban areas for industry and port services (Phu My, Nhon Trach and Hiep Phuoc).

Construction Minister Nguyen Hong Quan says the nucleus of HCM City would play a critical role in the development of all satellite cities, which would be designed for separate, specific purposes.

Under the plan, the nucleus of HCM City would be an international financial centre, the heart of which would be located on the newly developed Thu Thiem urban peninsula.

Along with the Construction Ministry's plan, the city itself has developed a separate scheme that calls for a greener, bigger urban zone with the city centre expanding in all four directions.

Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, says the city centre would be linked to urban areas in neighbouring provinces "in order to reduce pressure on the city's increasingly crowded centre."

Under the scheme, the new metropolis would be divided into three regions, including the current HCM City as the nucleus of the new urban zone, an expanded central area and a suburban area.

The scheme features various plans for upgrading the current city centre, taking into account the preservation of the landscape, historical sites and architectural heritage, as well as reorganisation of traffic networks, clearance of slums along city canals and trenches, and relocation of polluting facilities to outlying areas.

Trees would be planted along the banks of the Sai Gon, Dong Nai and Nha Be rivers.

In addition, residential parks and service centres would be developed in the inner city as well as satellite regions, including a northeastern urban area in District 9 and Thu Duc District, and one in the Hiep Phuoc Port residential park in Nha Be District.

Both of these plans are still being studied, according to city authorities.

The city known as Sai Gon changed remarkably when the French colonialists invaded the country in the mid-19th century. At that time, the population of the city was around 80,000.

The French drew up an ambitious master plan for Sai Gon, the capital of their colony, building significant architectural works and fostering trade.

By 1945, the city had attained prosperity and reached a population of 450,000.

During the resistance wars against the French and the Americans, the population of Sai Gon soared largely due to rural devastation and the compulsory urbanisation policy created by the then-Sai Gon authority to help in the war efforts.

After the French were defeated in 1954, the country was divided into two, and many people from the north migrated to the south, causing the city to grow even more. It was the capital of the south Viet Nam administration until 1975.

Later, Sai Gon, Cho Lon, with its many ethnic Chinese residents, and Gia Dinh Province were merged into a mega city and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 under the unified Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

For the first decade of reunification, the population of HCM City remained around 4 million as many residents moved abroad, and others to new economic zones.

But after the doi moi (renewal) policy in 1986, the city attracted millions of people from other regions to take advantage of the economic growth.

At present, HCM City covers an area of more than 2,000sq.km, and has 24 districts and a population of 8 million.

City authorities concede that without improved governmental management, the two urban planning schemes proposed by the city and Construction Ministry will remain on paper.

"We have tried a great deal to improve our management of the city's rapid growth," says Mayor Quan.

The city has proposed implementation of a municipal governance model, in which the core issues are the independence of a city or province and the rights and responsibilities of the administration.

"HCM City should have a unique model to cope with its own issues," says Tran Du Lich, a member of the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policies and a HCM City deputy to the National Assembly.

"Around the world, state and city administrations have autonomy over their budgets and finances. They also have the power to decide penalties and fines for violations of regulations," he added.

The city needs to ask for more power to cope with problems that other cities don't have, Lich says, noting that HCM City's administrative structure is similar to predominantly rural provinces.

For example, rural areas do not have homeless people sleeping in parks or on pavements, or people hanging clothes to dry in public places. But these problems in a city detract from order and appearance, and need locally devised measures and fines.

Littering fines in HCM City, for instance, had to be abolished recently at the request of the Ministry of Justice when it told the city People's Committee that the fines were violating national law.

Quan emphasises, however, that for municipal governance to become effective, government employees must be better trained because their roles and tasks will become far more complex.

Quality of human resources will be decisive to the success of any new urban planning scheme.

"HCM City will have to pay more attention to human resources so that it can attain its goal of becoming one of Asia's mega-cities," Quan says. — VNS

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