This is an opportunity for Hue to continue preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage, simultaneously creating a driving force for socio-economic development.
Hue urban area is expanded more than 3,7 times
Investing in connecting infrastructure
When talking with us, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - a resident of Thuan An ward, stated that Thuan An has a beautiful beach with a length of more than 12 km and poetic natural scenery. Besides, it is only more than 10 km from the city center. If being compared to renowned beaches in Vietnam such as Da Nang, Vung Tau, or Nha Trang, this beach is totally not inferior to any of them.
However, for many years, Thuan An beach has not been invested in essential infrastructure. Furthermore, the traffic routes leading to the beaches are rather narrow, and there is a lack of road electricity systems. Therefore, it's quite hard to attract tourists to come here. This is also why it is difficult to attract investment to implement large projects within the Thuan An beach area, leading to a lack of resorts and high-class hotels.
"From July 1st, 2021, when Thuan An was merged into Hue city, everyone is happy and hopes that the transport infrastructure would be invested. Thereby, Thuan An beach will have the opportunity to exploit its potential and to promote its strengths to become an attractive beach for tourists, creating opportunities for people to benefit from its services", shared Mr. Hung.
In some localities, such as Huong Tho, Huong Ho, Phu Mau, Phu Duong, etc., the traffic infrastructure is degraded. Particularly, the roads are narrow with no sidewalks. Besides, many roads do not have an electric lighting system, so people have difficulties when commuting to the city center.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Lam, Secretary of the Party Committee of Huong Tho Commune, assumed that to complete the infrastructure along the two banks of the Perfume River connecting with the route to Hon Chen Shrine and the mausoleums, especially those of Emperors Gia Long and Minh Mang, together with road construction and lighting electricity projects, the Provincial People's Committee and Huong Tra Town have been investing in them. In coming times, the city needs to continue to allocate investment capital to improve traffic infrastructure connecting with the city center area, create conditions for tourism development, and serve people's trade and travel needs.
According to Mr. Vo Le Nhat, Chairman of Hue City People's Committee, merging 13 more communes and wards is an opportunity for the city to exploit its potential and promote its strengths in various fields. Therefore, the scale, economic structure, industry development, socio-economic development orientations, goals, and targets will certainly have many changes.
In the short term, the city is considering the critical infrastructure in the 13 new communes and wards, particularly focusing on investing in inter-communal and inter-regional roads to connect infrastructure from the city center to communes and wards, creating a new look for Hue urban area in the future.
The city is planning to focus on investing in 5 communes and wards to ensure that they have enough criteria to create a driving force for the whole province to become a centrally-managed city.
Opportunities & Chances
According to Mr. Phan Thien Dinh, Secretary of the City Party Committee, the adjustment of administrative boundaries will create room for the city to develop in all aspects. Thereby, it can become a "nuclear" city, which is also a cultural, political, and administrative center for trading, education, training, and scientific research of the province.
By providing the essential infrastructure for trade and human resources for industrial parks and economic zones in the area, the city will become the driving force of the province's socio-economic development.
This is also an opportunity for Hue to preserve and promote its cultural, historical, and heritage values, with the aim of becoming the primary and critical core of the heritage urban model of Thua Thien Hue that the whole province is focusing on building according to Resolution 54 of the Politburo.
Currently, the city center area has a fast urban development rate, but the urban infrastructure in the suburb is not commensurate. In the coming time, the city is going to focus on investing in completing critical infrastructure; primarily, the city will focus on that of the 13 new communes and wards.
The city has established working groups to assess this issue to have investment orientations in 2021 as well as the following years to create an asynchronous connection of infrastructure between old and new localities, creating a solid promotion for the whole city.
To complete the infrastructure for connecting urban traffic, the city has just approved the policy and is preparing to implement lighting projects on some routes from the city center to the newly merged communes and wards, including routes along the Perfume River from Phu Thuong, Phu Duong, and Phu Mau communes to Dien Truong bridge, and back to Huong Vinh commune to the city center.
Particularly, Hai Duong commune will invest in the lighting power system for the whole central route from the border with Quang Cong commune to Thuan An sea gate, and some roads connecting with Huong An, Huong Ho, Huong Tho, and Thuy Bang wards, etc.
According to Mr. Vo Le Nhat, by defining the strategy for the city in the future, Hue City continues to promote its spirit of dynamism and creativity and take advantage of its potentials and advantages, and at the same time, to actively implement and promptly concretize the guidelines and direction of the Central Government and the province, contributing to make the whole province worthy of being one of the centers of culture - tourism, specialized health care, education and training, science and technology of both the whole country and the region.
Story: Thanh Hương. Photo: Tuan Kiet