The central city of Đà Nẵng has taken full advantage of being able to start afresh, unencumbered for the most part by outdated infrastructure, to become the most livable place in the country. Bùi Hoài Nam charts a few milestones of this growth.

Đà Nẵng is used to getting a major makeover, every 150 or 250 years or so.

Quảng Nam-Đà Nẵng was founded in 1471 during the reign of King Lê Thánh Tông on an area stretching to today’s Phú Yên Province.

It was re-established in 1832 by King Minh Mạng under the Nguyễn Dynasty.

In its latest makeover, 20 years ago, Đà Nẵng was separated from Quảng Nam Province, and came under the direct management of the central government, making up a Fab Five along with Hà Nội, HCM City, Hải Phòng and Cần Thơ. 

Perhaps it is in its latest incarnation that Đà Nẵng has seen the ‘ultimate’ transformation, amazing even elderly citizens who’ve witnessed the transformation live, on a ring-side seat.

 “It’s unbelievable! I would not be able to recognise the old streets if I did not visit them often. The banks of the Hàn River changed almost completely when it created more spaces for pedestrians and more cruise travels in the river each night,” said Nguyễn Văn Anh, 77, a long-time resident.

“Bạch Đằng Street was my rendezvous after work for more than 40 years. It did not have many good cafés or bars, but it is a new recreational centre for locals and tourists.

“The Hàn River is lit up now, with colourful decorations and designs shining from bridges and recreational spots. We can now relax with several activities on the river banks in peace.”

The septuagenarian recalled that Bạch Đằng Street and the Hàn River were poorly lit 20 years ago and slums covered the other side of the river. A ferry from the Sơn Trà Peninsula carried workers, vendors and fishermen to the city’s downtown area every morning and evening.

Getting there: A view of the Hải Vân Pass in Đà Nẵng City. — VNS Photo Công Thành

The peninsula, or Sơn Trà district, was connected to downtown Đà Nẵng with just two bridges. The beach district was home to poor fishermen and low income labourers for a long time, while the rich, civil servants and businesspeople, gathered in the city’s centre. Today, the peninsula is a favourite eco-tourism destination with resorts, hotels and beach property projects.

Anh, who was born and brought up in a Đà Nẵng suburb, said that his native village, Khuê Trung, became Núi Thành Street – a major road in the city now.

The city was known as Tourane during the French colonial rule and its centre was the Bạch Đằng Street area along the Hàn River.

The old building on Bạch Đằng Street – now housing the city’s People’s Council – was the only one that had been preserved since it was built over 100 years ago, Anh said.

Quick facelift

Several impressive infrastructural works are responsible for giving the central city a quick facelift, turning it into a major tourist attraction with extraordinary architecture and decorations.

Nine bridges were built to connect the city’s downtown and the Sơn Trà Peninsula – home to pristine white sand beaches and a vast area of forests and mountains.

Each bridge spanning the Hàn River, featuring typical symbol of the city’s seas, rivers and mountains, has become an attraction by itself, adding their total charm to river cruises.

The city’s downtown and shopping centres, a small area with a few main streets 20 years ago, is now four times as large.

When it separated from its parent province, Đà Nẵng had just 360 streets. Now it has more than 2,000.

Secure beach: Tourists explore an islet in Đà Nẵng City. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Sơn Trà, the longest stretch of land heading to the sea in the country, has also been part of the major growth that has changed its landscape and living standards.

Thousands of slums on the east side of the Hàn River were cleared to create community and entertainment spaces, while homeless fishermen were resettled in apartments.

A vast pristine beach where fishing boats came ashore every night was done up to attract tourists. The number of beach resorts and hotels increased from 61 to nearly 600 in 20 years, and the city can now host 5.6 million tourists – 27 times as many as it could in 1997.

The peninsula with fishing villages on pristine beaches is an old story for Phan Liêm, 76, who was born and grew up in the Thọ Quang fishing village.

“There was only one main road running in the middle of the peninsula that connects the city’s downtown and port systems in Sơn Trà. There was nothing on the beach but fishing villages and fishing boats.

“We had a very difficult time with fishing for many years, but the infrastructure development of Đà Nẵng changed our lives,” Liêm said.

“More roads were built and it became easier to reach the peninsula from the city’s downtown. More tourists have started coming and we earn more from fishing now,” he added.

Liêm explained that local fishermen could earn more from tourism services, through seafood restaurants, making and renting out coracles, and offering accommodation.

He said he’d retired from fishing for years, but was able to earn much more from making coracles for fishermen and even exports.

Shining city: Night scenery of the Hàn River in Đà Nẵng. VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

The trailblazer

Phạm Văn Hạng, a stone sculptor, recalled that the city’s growth came out of “endless endeavours” by its leadership, and the reform was masterminded by the then city’s Party Secretary Nguyễn Bá Thanh.

Thanh, who died of cancer in 2015, was a trailblazer of the reform process, when he pushed for separation from Quảng Nam-Đà Nẵng, Hạng said.

He recalled that Thanh had asked former Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt to place Đà Nẵng under centrally controlled to boost its development.

Hạng said Thanh had complained that Hải Phòng, a twin city with Đà Nẵng, had received huge support from the government, while Đà Nẵng did not.

So 1997 was a landmark year, when the government decided Đà Nẵng would be the fifth centrally controlled city after Hà Nội, HCM City, Cần Thơ and Hải Phòng.

“It was the desire of the city’s people and leadership. Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam, like an adult wearing a small shirt, had to change to grow. The two localities had a huge potential for development, but it needed a mechanism and a larger runway for taking off,” said the city’s current Party Secretary, Nguyễn Xuân Anh.

Anh said the separation was a driving force for Đà Nẵng to speed up development of its traffic and urban infrastructure from a third class city under provincial management into a first class city within 20 years.

“Đà Nẵng has also been seen as a forerunner among Vietnamese cities in developing social welfare and security policies. We do our very best to earn the city the most liveable status in Việt Nam and make it a world class urban area,” Anh said.

The central city was the first urban area in Việt Nam to boost the Five Zeroes social programme : No poor and starving households, No illiteracy , No beggars, No drug users in the community and No murder and robbery, along with three targets (accommodation, jobs and an urban civilized lifestyle for locals).

Over 3,300 apartments have been built in the 2008-2015 period, providing enough accommodation for local residents, while 34,000 jobs were created, bringing unemployment down to 4.9 per cent.

Anh, 41, who is also chairman of the city’s People’s Council, said Đà Nẵng earned total revenues of VNĐ54 trillion (US$2.4 billion) in 2016, contributing VNĐ19 trillion ($840 million) to the State budget.

“The city has seen rapid development in tourism and services, from 61 hotels with more than 2,000 rooms in 1997 to 585 hotels with 21,000 rooms after 20 years,” Anh said. “Đà Nẵng is now four times larger than in 1997, with a total area of 21,300ha."

Spectacle: One of the main cultural events in Đà Nẵng is an annual international fireworks competition. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Đặng Việt Dũng said the city had been ranked on top of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) every year since 2010, and had been a leader in administrative reform and application of information technology.

“Đà Nẵng had reserved property for developers in seeking funds for infrastructure projects. We positively raised funds through our preferential policies…,” Dũng said.

He added that the city had attracted total investment capital of US$11.4 billion in the 1997-2016 period, accounting for 2.4 per cent of the national figure.

“We boosted administrative reforms to create smooth conditions for investors with long term interest in the city. We encouraged investment in the high-tech, logistics, tourism, services, ‘green’ and renewable industry sectors in building the city as a world brand tourism site by 2037,” Dũng said.

Dũng said the city’s economic restructuring had resulted in industry and services accounting for 97 per cent, and agriculture for just two per cent.

He said the city also managed a stable annual growth of 10.47 per cent in the 1997-2015 period.

Unique smart city

At a meeting to mark the 20^th anniversary of Đà Nẵng’s autonomous status directly under the central government, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said the city should develop as a unique smart city and become a competitive global centre for tourism and services,

“Đà Nẵng should serve as magnet for foreign direct investment, information technology and skilled workers. It should be a frontrunner in business reform, education and business start-ups,” he said, adding that the city should have 45,000 enterprises by 2020.

The Prime Minister also said that Đà Nẵng, must build links with other localities in the region and serve as the core of socio-economic development for the region. The city should improve the quality of its business environment in order to compete with other urban centres in the world.

He noted that 2017 would present the city of one million people with a great opportunity, as well as a challenge, when it hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and other APEC events in April.

The city’s urban master urban plan for 2030 - 2050 also focuses on tourism as a core economic sector with special concentration on high-tech industry and hi-tech farms as well as organic and safe food farming.

As planned, the city will have a population of 2.3 million by 2030 with total area on 128,543ha.

The World Bank has been a major funds provider for Đà Nẵng, agreeing to finance its 2013-2018 Sustainable Development Project with $202.4 million, after funding 70 per cent of the city’s priority infrastructure project with an investment of $218.4 million in the 2008-2013 period.

At home: Đà Nẵng has chosen the red-shanked douc langur (Pygathryx nemaeus) as its official mascot for the 2017 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Summit.— VNS Photo Công Thành

Added visions

Trần Du Lịch, head of the Consultative Group for Development of the Central Coastal Region, said Đà Nẵng should attract high-end global tourists wanting premium services.

Lịch feels that a lack of quality human resources has held back the city’s development.

Salvador Perez Arroyo, chairman of a major design consultancy firm, suggested that in order to acquire a respected, global image, Đà Nẵng must be designed as a mega city that houses outstanding, significant structures like an opera house, museum and modern international airport.

"It needs to reserve a huge amount of space so it can integrate urban areas with the surrounding environment in a practical but ecologically aware manner," Arroyo said.

Peter Dyder, general manager of Indochina Capital, said the city should host more international-standard tourist attractions and events, like the Iron-Man Triathlon or the Đà Nẵng Formula One racing weekend. — VNS

Most livable city

The Asia institute of City Management (AiCM), which had commissioned a year-long study on Đà Nẵng, has said that the coastal city is the most liveable place in Việt Nam.

The institute had commissioned the study to understand the development challenges the city faces.

Unlike the larger metropolises of Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City, which have much older infrastructure, Đà Nẵng has had the advantage of starting afresh, it said.

“There is a constant challenge in being able to achieve a balance of both. Đà Nẵng is one of the fastest-growing cities in Việt Nam and was identified in our 2004 assessment of innovative city leaders in Asia.” — VNS