Speakers at the 24th People’s Council session on Tuesday (Mar 23). Photo nld.com.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City must consider its residents’ interests a priority as it develops urban planning, the former chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 24th People’s Council session, Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm said the city must think twice about the feasibility of plans to ensure they will not be delayed for years.

Homeowners in affected areas, which include all of the city’s 24 districts, for example, have not been allowed to receive permits to renovate or rebuild their homes or even sell their houses because of proposed plans.

While waiting for years, the residents saw the price of land drop sharply.

Some plans have been delayed for 20-30 years, caused mostly by a lack of city funds and problems related to site clearance and compensation (which requires huge capital). 

“In such cases, the interests of the people are not ensured whatsoever,” said Tâm.

She said the city should carefully calculate how many households will be affected when it makes any plan. If not, many people could be adversely affected.

For example, planning for the Bình Quới - Thanh Đa area in Bình Thạnh District has been delayed since 1992. The affected residents “have been waiting for half of their life, but nothing has happened”, she said.

At the meeting, Nguyễn Thanh Nhã, director of the city Department of Planning and Architecture, said the adjusted city master plan by 2040 covers ​​2,095sq.km and 28.7sq.km of Cần Giờ urban encroachment area. 

Under the adjusted plan, the city will be developed into the nation’s largest economic hub for tourism, industrial services, and high-tech agriculture, adapting to climate change and rising sea levels.

The city has set a long-term vision by 2060 to become an international trade and financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

The plan also considers the planning of surrounding provinces in the southern key economic region on an area of ​​30,404sq.km, including Bình Dương, Bình Phước, Tây Ninh, Long An, Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, and Tiền Giang provinces.

The city is set to be home to 13-14 million people by 2040 and 16 million by 2060. It plans to allocate 100,000-110,000ha of land for urbanisation by 2040.

New Thủ Đức City 

Under the adjusted plan, one of the city's new urban areas include the new Thủ Đức City which was formed recently by merging districts 2 and 9 and Thủ Đức District.

The new city will have 18,930ha of land for urban construction by 2030, and 19,994ha by 2040.

It currently has a population of more than 1 million. The figure is expected to reach 1.5 million by 2030, and 1.9 to 2.2 million people by 2040 and 3 million by 2060. 

Under the plan, the new city will implement major projects to create an innovative ecosystem.

These include projects to build the Quang Trung Thủ Đức Software Park, Advanced Technology and Innovation Centre (under the Department of Science and Technology), High-Performance Computing Centre, Creative Start-up Centre, Advanced Research Institute (under the National University of HCM City), Centre for Research and Pharmaceutical Production Products, among others.

The new city will also focus on developing quality human resources. HCM City will offer special incentives to attract investment in the projects. 

As the city’s eastern gateway, the new Thủ Đức City covering 21,156ha will be developed into a centre of innovation to assist the growth of HCM City and seven key economic hubs in the South. — VNS