Hue city is increasingly invested to develop. Photo: Nhat Long

Developing motive city

In addition to the pilot project of building the network to connect the system of pedestrian path along the Southern area of the Perfume River sponsored by KOICA organization which is in runaway step to come into operation on time in the middle of September, in order to make the space on both sides of the Perfume River a place for entertaining and trading in tourist services to serve local people and tourists, the People’s Committee of Hue city is mobilizing all forces to hasten the rate of the project of renewing the parks along the two sides of the Perfume River from Truong Tien Bridge to Ho Chi Minh Museum. With the total investment of 16 billion VND, after finishing, the paths along the two sides of the Perfume River will be paved with granite stone, installed with drainage system and electric lights throughout the route.

The complex of Hue Vincom Plaza Center and Vinpearl Hotel coming into operation makes the face of Hue (urban area) City more spacious and vibrant. The traffic flow in the 6-way intersection of Hung Vuong - Ben Nghe - Ha Noi - Le Quy Don - Dong Da increases rapidly, therefore, the traffic jam often occurs. To deal with this issue, at the same time to create suitable landscape for surrounding area, Hue city invested nearly 9 billion VND for 6-way intersection renewal including the articles of building sidewalks, enlarging road surface and surrounding area and reversing the 6-way intersection island.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of People’s Committee of Hue city, in defining Hue being the motive city, the festival city of Vietnam; over the years, the city has focused on the infrastructural investment for the “core” of city center and the renewal of the areas on two sides of the Perfume River. The highlights of those projects are investing to upgrade the central routes of the city such as Hung Vuong, Ben Nghe and Le Loi streets; completing Chu Van An -Vo thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao pedestrian street and green parks in city area. With the viewpoint of focusing on one-time investment and long-term use, and at the same time creating a good looking appearance for the city, Hue City concentrates on high quality investment, using luxurious and durable materials.

Mr. Thanh said that despite the limit annual expense, the City still tries its best to finish the work of infrastructural urban renewal, especially the central areas to develop tourist services; in which, getting the best out of the projects, the capital source of central government and its of departments and the project of improving water environment, as well as the aid of KOICA organization to complete the infrastructure at central areas. With the total investment of nearly 100 billion VND, in two year from 2017 to 2018, the city has implemented nearly 15 urban renewal projects, in which focusing on renewing and completing the traffic network in the main routes such as Hung Vuong, Ben Nghe, To Huu, Le Loi, Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao; on replacing the electric lights system and renovating green trees system; on constructing traffic island park in combination with renewing parks, and on building green points to create a series of interconnected entertainment spots in the areas of the two sides of the Perfume River.

Completing infrastructure

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Bang, Head of Urban Management Committee Division, in order to create a highlight for central area and connect playgrounds in that area, the City will keep on investing 30 billion VND to implement some large-scale projects in the coming time. The projects, which are specially focused on the creation of the highlight for Hue, are: setting the artistic light system on Truong Tien Bridge and installing a system of surveillance cameras at 15 central positions in the city and setting up its the control center. These are the two important projects in the chain of central urban renewal projects that should be strove for implementing and coming into operation before December 31, 2018 to create the unique beauty for Hue, especially in the space around the area of Truong Tien Bridge, at the same time to control the security situation in city area.

In order to deal with the static traffic issue for the city, especially the central areas when the number of vehicles is growing up in geometric progression, the People’s Committee of Hue city is investing the project of lowering the roadsides and renewing some traffic points. With the total expense of over 10 billion VND, the roadsides of the routes such as Le Lai, Ngo Quyen, the way to boat pier at No.5 Le Loi and Nguyen Thai Hoc, were and are being lowered. These routes are also renovated, and embellished to create a clear space to ensure traffic safety. Furthermore, the project of building green parking lot at Phu Xuan Park near Da Vien Bridge is also being planned and it will be deployed in 2019.

After finishing the project of renovating and upgrading Nguyen Dinh Chieu pedestrian street which extends to Ho Chi Minh Museum, the pedestrian path along the Perfume river and the Truong Tien Bridge artistic light project, the City will form the pedestrian street on Truong Tien Bridge on weekends to create more highlights associating with the cultural re-arranging planning along Le Loi street to develop some kinds of services such as food, shopping, museum visit, street art performance, sound and light performance along the two sides of the Perfume River.

By Khanh Thu