HCM CITY — Planning for HCM City and its neighbouring provinces must be adjusted to adapt to climate change and ensure sustainable development, speakers said at a meeting on regional planning to 2030 held in Hà Nội last week.

Phạm Hồng Hà, Minister of Construction, said that after six years of implementation of the regional plan, HCM City has many opportunities to become a megacity but sustainable development must be part of that growth.

An international organisation, the Insar Consultant Company from Germany, has helped adjust the regional plan to take account of climate change, according to the Ministry of Construction’s Southern Construction and Planning Institute.

The main objective of the regional plan is to form a centralised model that calls for coordinated development of HCM City and its neighbouring provinces, including Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Tây Ninh, Bình Phước, Long An and Tiền Giang.

The plan also aims to identify socio-economic development goals as well as ensure national defence and security of the Southeast region and the southern key economic zone.

In addition, the plan has the goal of improving residents’ quality of life and ensuring environmental protection.   

Climate-change adaptation

Trần Ngọc Chính, chairman of the Việt Nam Urban Planning and Development Association, said that more serious measures were needed to balance urban development and climate-change adaptation.

The city should more carefully study the impact of climate change and devise measures to deal with the worsening flooding, he said.

Vũ Khoa, vice chairman of HCM City’s People’s Committee, said it was also essential to adjust the regional plan so that the land fund and other natural resources were used effectively.

The adjusted plan would set out clear strategies and solutions to cope with climate change and rising sea levels, he added.

The Ministry of Construction said that HCM City, because of its geographic location, should develop to the North instead of to the South and Southwest so that flooding could be reduced.  

The adjusted regional plan will be submitted to the Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc for approval by the end of the year. — VNS