In his speech, Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen stated that the planning in HCMC is still infeasible and has not met the socio-economic development demands yet. In addition, many planning projects were approved several years ago but have not been adjusted to suit the newer requests of the community, leading to discouragement in investment and tardiness in carrying out.
Therefore, Secretary Nen asked that related state agencies must tackle the above issues immediately to minimize negative impacts on citizens’ legal rights. He also suggested the mobilization of the community’s wisdom in turning suspended projects into feasible ones, while ensuring the transparency in project launching and seriousness in collecting the public’s ideas.
The Party Secretary highly appreciated all efforts of the HCMC Planning and Architecture Department and showed his agreement with the future direction and tasks of this department, especially the adjustment of the general planning of HCMC until 2040, with a vision to 2060.
He then requested the focus on planning the Eastern highly-interactive, innovative urban area (Thu Duc City) and on developing urban transport infrastructure.
“Our planning must consider both the urban beauty and the convenience for city residents in order to upgrade their overall living standards”, said Secretary Nen.
Accepting the critical role of planning and architecture in such a huge city as HCMC, the Party Secretary expressed his expectation that the capable human resources in the HCMC Planning and Architecture Department are able to overcome obstacles and successfully fulfill their mission.
Representatives of this department reported the progress of the general planning of HCMC until 2040, with a vision to 2060.
Accordingly, the department completed the draft of this planning under the consultation of HCMC People’s Committee and submitted to the Ministry of Construction for evaluation before requesting the Prime Minister’s approval.
Simultaneously, the department has prepared the planning for the Eastern highly-interactive, innovative urban area (Thu Duc City), the regulations to manage the architecture, underground use, and key urban transport developments in HCMC.
Director of the HCMC Planning and Architecture Department Nguyen Thanh Nha shared that these planning projects must blur the administrative boundaries between local areas to increase the inter-area links and synchronism.
Director of the HCMC Department of Construction Tran Hoang Quan reported the fact the agricultural land still accounts for a large percentage in HCMC (over 54.4 percent). This results in the need to adjust the structure of land use to increase residential land for further development of the city and minimization of illegal construction.
In his speech, Vice Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Le Hoa Binh mentioned specific tasks of the HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture, such as reviewing the planning areas of mixed-purpose lands and newly built residential areas to tackle possible management issues and ensure the legal rights of residents.
Admitting that the progress of preparing a temporary management regulation for land planning and construction in Thu Duc City is behind schedule, Vice Chairman Binh asked that the HCMC Planning and Architecture Department have to cooperate with functional agencies to speed up the planning for Thu Duc City in particular, and for HCMC in general, with frequent reviewing to adjust any impractical details.
Standing Vice Secretary of HCMC Party Committee Phan Van Mai insisted on the important role of planning to the development of HCMC. Hence, he mentioned the need to allocate more human and property resources to fulfill this mission.
Along with that is the active collaboration between the localities and state departments in HCMC, between HCMC and ministries as well as the central Government in order to form a strong inter-region connection for a sustainable development.
Mr. Phan Van Mai also requested that the HCMC Planning and Architecture Department better implement IT in their tasks and accelerate the digital transformation process in order to establish a common resource via database links and synchronization as well as avoiding asset waste.
Particularly, this department is directed to research and develop four key projects of HCMC: orienting the growth of service infrastructure in HCMC from 2020-2025, with a vision to 2040; orienting the growth of industrial infrastructure in HCMC from 2020-2045; building riverbank embankment and boosting the development of riverside economy from 2020-2025; forming the Eastern highly-interactive, innovative urban area (Thu Duc City).
Besides that, the department is asked to research the optimal planning for key areas like Can Gio Rural District, the Northwest urban area, Binh Quoi-Thanh Da urban area, Saigon Safari Park (sited in Cu Chi Rural District), Rach Chiec Sports Complex, and Phu Tho Sports Complex.
