HCM CITY — Urban planning in HCM City must be supervised and improved to avoid wasting land, experts said at a meeting late last week.

Cao Thanh Bình, deputy head of the economic and budget committee under the municipal People’s Council, pointed out that the city is facing both a shortage and excess of land for economic and social projects.

According to the Department of Planning and Architecture, there are 1,269 projects for accommondation, business and social affairs in the city, covering a total area of 18,930 hectares.

The city cancelled land-use certificates for 557 projects due to long implementation periods.

Phạm Đức Hải, vice chairman of the People’s Council, said “The city should check long-term projects and withdraw delayed projects.”

He added that the delayed projects affect the people, who had to move to resettlement areas to free up land for those projects. 

“Life and jobs at resettlement areas are not as good as at the old residential areas,” he said.

A survey conducted by the council showed that only 68 per cent of people are satisfied with their lives after being resettled. And 77 per cent of people are satisfied with their jobs.

Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm, chairwoman of the People’s Council, said “The city needs to ensure the people’s lives and welfare after moving to resettlement areas.”

“The People’s Committee should check land for projects on education, health, culture and social affairs, reform administrative procedure, and offer training for urban planners,” she said.

Tâm also mentioned that the implementation of projects in the city should be checked regularly.

Vice Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Trần Vĩnh Tuyến replied to the People’s Council’s issues on urban planning at the meeting, saying “The People’s Committee will complete a check of urban planning by the first quarter of 2020, and update information of projects for education, heath, culture and social affairs."

He said the city planned to launch an app and a centre in District 2 in the second quarter of 2018 to provide information on urban planning to investors and the public. — VNS