A map of HCM City's Northwestern Urban Area. — Photo courtesy of the HCM City Department of Planning and Architecture

HCM CITY — The Northwestern Urban Area in HCM City needs to reduce its land area and make allowance for a larger number of inhabitants to attract investment and conform to urban planning standards, the city People’s Committee has said.

The project in Củ Chi and Hóc Môn districts was approved in 1998 with a total area of 6,084ha and a proposed population of 300,000 by 2025.

The city wants them to be revised to 4,410ha and 600,000 residents.

It wants the area earmarked for university education to be halved to 150ha though with the same training scale as in the approved plan by using technology for the training.

The Northwest Urban Area is on the trans-Asia axis connecting the city and Tây Ninh Province with Cambodia via the planned HCM City- Mộc bài Expressway.

It is situated near ring roads No 3 and 4 that link fast-growing and dynamic localities such as Tây Ninh, Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, and Long An provinces.

It is meant to turn into a satellite town on the city’s north-western gateway, driving economic growth in neighbouring areas.

Slow compensation payment to existing residents has delayed the project for years. — VNS