Bắc Giang City's centre square. — VNS Photo

BẮC GIANG — Bắc Giang Province is focusing on mobilising resources for urban development, striving to increase the urban population rate in the province to 32.4 per cent by 2025, Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Lê Ô Pích, said.

The province plans to utilise all available resources to support urban economic growth and development, transforming urban districts into the hubs and growth engines of the surrounding areas.

This initiative includes systematic investment in urban areas following specific plans and roadmaps. The urban framework technical infrastructure system must be established for approving investment in residential areas, both existing and future.

Furthermore, Bắc Giang Province aims to attract experienced and prominent investors who have sufficient resources for investment in modern and well-planned urban regions. This strategy is designed to foster the development of specific areas while stimulating growth in other regions.

The province also intends to promote the development of compact urban areas to improve the efficiency of land usage. This will be achieved by allocating funds for building public spaces and social facilities and ensuring long-term growth.

Urban planning should synchronise with modernity and focus on the unique characteristics of each region. Especially, landscape and architectural works should create urban highlights to have enough public works and social welfare for adequate service. There is a focus on prioritising commercial services and social housing projects in favourable locations to attract qualified investors.

As of June this year, the population of urban areas of the province has increased to nearly 449,300 people and the urban population rate reached 23.96 per cent.

The province has 19 urban areas, with 16 having received official recognition as urban types from competent authorities. Urban classification is determined based on factors such as location, function, role, structure, level of economic development, population size; and population density.

They include one Class II urban area (Bắc Giang City), four Class IV urban areas (Thắng, Chũ, Đồi Ngô and Việt Yên), 11 Class V urban areas (Bách Nhẫn, Phố Hoa, Vôi, Kép, Cao Thượng, Nhã Nam, Phồn Xương, Mỏ Trạng, Bố Hạ, Phương Sơn, Tây Yên Tử). Additionally, there are three towns (An Châu, Tân An, Nham Biền) that have yet to receive official recognition of their urban class.

Overview of Việt Yên cultural and sports complex(Bắc Giang Province) with total investment in 3 phases of over VNĐ500 billion is being built —Photo VNS

The People's Committee of Bắc Giang Province has reported to the Prime Minister, seeking approval to initiate and update five comprehensive urban construction planning projects. So far, the planning tasks for Bắc Giang City, the Việt Yên urban region, and the Chũ urban area have been endorsed by the Prime Minister. The Ministry of Construction has collaborated with relevant ministries and branches in this regard.

Currently, selected investors have gained approval for 147 new urban and residential area projects, emcompassing a total area of approximately 2,200 hectares. These anticipated investment for these projects is around VNĐ33 trillion (US$1.4 billion). Among them, 24 projects have been completed, five are near completion, 24 are in the construction phase, 47 are pending site clearance, and 47 are in the planning stage for compensation for site clearance.

Additionally, the province has initiated 14 social housing development projects, with a cumulative investment capital of more than VNĐ19 trillion, and six housing projects integrating residential spaces with commercial and service facilities, amounting to a total investment capital of VNĐ12 trillion.

Đặng Đình Hoan, Chairman of the municipal People's Committee of Bắc Giang City, said that Bắc Giang City would focus on key projects, streamlining investment progress through automatic and regularly checks and follow-up to ensure the construction progress. 

Nguyễn Văn Nghĩa, Deputy Director of Bắc Giang Department of Construction, said that the department will continue to advise the provincial People's Committee on introducing urban development projects. Moreover, they will also coordinate with relevant departments to improve the quality of planning, construction, and urban development to accomplish the goals in the province from 2021 to 2030, with a vision to 2050. — VNS