HCMC continues to maintain its top position in Vietnam and has been selected as one of the five "Cities to Watch" in the Asia-Pacific region, alongside Kuala Lumpur, Bengaluru, Shenzhen, and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
According to the report, HCMC’s key strengths include growth momentum, human resources, a large population size, and a rapid population growth rate. The report also categorizes HCMC under three structural archetypes: Regional Leader, Developing Megacity (a megacity with over 10 million people whose infrastructure lags behind population growth), and Emerging Standout (a city outperforming the national average).
However, HCMC faces challenges such as overloaded infrastructure and lower quality of living space and environment. Human resources (ranked 71st) also represent a limitation for HCMC compared to several regional cities, as Bangkok ranks 18th, Kuala Lumpur 22nd, Jakarta 23rd, and Manila 46th.
Encouragingly, many recommendations in the report to address these limitations align with the action goals and priority policies that HCMC is currently implementing. In the short term (2026-2027), putting metro lines and transport infrastructure projects into operation on schedule is identified as a solution to alleviate traffic congestion.
HCMC is also tightening personal vehicle emission controls, managing construction dust, and making its environmental monitoring system public. Regarding urban housing, the report emphasizes that combining rising incomes with low housing costs will contribute to a sharp increase in the quality-of-life score.
In the medium term (up to 2030), Ho Chi Minh City should immediately initiate improvements in educational metrics to address weaknesses in both quality of life (mean years of schooling) and human resources (number and ranking of universities). Additionally, HCMC can accelerate efforts to attract regional headquarters of multinational corporations and increase the proportion of foreign experts working in HCMC, using the Vietnam International Financial Center in HCMC as a key lever.
These solutions all aim to serve the quality of life of residents, making rank improvement the highest and most consistent action priority of the HCMC administration. An important toolkit for the city to realize its goals and actions early on is the passed and currently implemented Law on Urban Development.
The Oxford Economics Global Cities Index ranks the world's 1000 largest cities, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses and future potential.
