HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam now has about 800 large urban areas, of which there are more than 100 cities. The high speed of urban development requires well-trained urban management staff, said Kinh Tế & Đô Thị (Economic and Urban Affairs) newspaper.

The fast development of urban cities has contributed to the country’s socio-economic growth, however, this has also brought many challenges with it.

Population growth is causing overloading and degrading to infrastructure facilities, and increased environment pollution due to domestic waste and exhaust fumes.

Moreover, weak management in construction and land use in urban cities has adversely affected urban planning.

Associated Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh from the Hà Nội National University told the newspaper that “Việt Nam is seriously lacking a staff of high-qualified urban managers”.

“Most management staff in localities were not trained in urban planning and development”, Minh said.

Meanwhile, urban management work which is a very complicated field includes local population management, economic and financial work, environment protection, construction and architectural planning, and development strategies, Minh said.

Việt Nam is in the process of modernisation and urban cities will be hubs for socio-economic development. If there is no highly-qualified staff to manage this development, the country will pay a high price in the years to come, she told the paper.

Irrationalities in urban planning and management have led to an overly dense urban population and strained transport infrastructure in major cities, affecting the lives of local residents.

More than ten years ago, an apartment in the Linh Đàm urban area was the dream of many middle and low-income families in the capital, but nowadays, residents in these areas suffer from the poor decisions and negligence by urban planners. 

Many residents in the area bought apartments here with the hope that they would enjoy a good atmosphere and service. However, it didn’t quite meet expectations.

A major cause of dissatisfaction is how long they have to wait for the elevator in high rise buildings – up to half an hour during peak times.

Lines of people tired of waiting, and overcrowding in front of elevators are the everyday reality of local residents.

Every morning, between 7 and 7.30pm, people rush to their offices and schools, as a result, congestion at the elevator occurs regularly.

Congestion in parking lots has hindered residents’ living as well - shortages in parking spaces has convinced many residents not to buy cars. 

As the developers tried to heighten their buildings for profit by accommodating more residents, they neglected other factors, such as transport infrastructure and public utilities to serve residents.

In overcrowded residential areas of Linh Đàm of Hoàng Mai District, Xa La in Hà Đông District or Kim Văn-Kim Lũ, traffic on the road is a nightmare.

Việt Nam needs to follow the global trend of smart cities in order to help manage the situation. 

Training high quality staff and employing them in urban management positions is essential, said Minh.

A trained manager could effectively solve the issues that face cities, she added.

Việt Nam is one of the fastest growing countries with regard to urbanisation in Southeast Asia.

According to Dr. Nguyễn Hồng Thục, former director of the Settlement Research Institute, 40 per cent of the total population will be living in cities in a decade.

Therefore, the country must develop a system of cities and urban areas with high competitiveness and special spaces for industry and service development.

“This absolutely depends on the human resources of urban development”, said Thục. — VNS