Chairman of Vietnam Urban Development Planning Association, Chairman of the Council of Planning Reviewers, Former Deputy Minister of Construction, Mr. Tran Ngoc Chinh; Deputy Director of the Department of Architectural Planning, Ministry of Construction, Mr. Nguyen Chi Ngoc; and Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong co-chaired the conference.
Attending the conference were also Vice Chairman of the Law Committee of the National Assembly, Mr. Nguyen Phuong Thuy; and representatives of the Central Economic Commission, Ministries and central agencies.
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| Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong bringing up the issues for discussion at the conference |
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, said that the project played an important and pivotal role in orienting the overall development model of urban space, defining the technical and social infrastructure framework of a centrally-managed municipality in the future. Also, it acted as an important legal basis for the formulation of zoning plans, detailed planning and framework infrastructure investment projects, heading towards constructing and developing a sustainable urban, adapting and responding to climate change, building a centrally-managed municipality rich in cultural identity with cultural, heritage, landscape, environment-friendly and smart characteristics.
Up to this point, steps on organizing the planning, reporting on the planning process, and publicizing for public comments have been completed. The project strives to be completed and ratified in April 2023.
Bringing up the issues for discussion, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Van Phuong would like the experts to comment on the following issues: outlining the development vision for Thua Thien Hue urban area in the future; forecasting socio-economic development, population size, population density in urban and rural areas; planning urban and rural space for construction; orienting urban space and model of a centrally-managed municipality with Thua Thien Hue urban area expected to be classified as a first-grade city directly under the Central Government; orienting the planning of framework technical infrastructure and social infrastructure of the whole urban area and the central urban area, etc.
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| Assoc. Prof. Dr Tran Dinh Thien – An economic expert, member of the Government advisory group, former director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics commenting at the conference |
Shaping a special city
Experts participating in project review highly appreciated the preparation work as the project's documents were elaborately and methodically presented with the history of formation and development of the province being clearly assessed, especially taking the Perfume River as the main axis to direct the city towards the sea.
Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Development Planning Association, Mr. Tran Ngoc Chinh said that the project had shown the central role of Hue City and clearly calculated the development space and scale of development in rural and urban areas, etc.
To clarify the project, Mr. Chinh suggested realizing the regional connectivity by traffic routes, especially the north, west and south connection, thereby establishing the link with the national transport system.
In terms of economic development orientation, Mr. Chinh said that the marine economy played an important role, and Tam Giang lagoon needed to be linked with the sea to create a greater development motivation, ensuring links with seaports in the Central region.
“Currently, urban space in the seaside areas is quite few. Therefore, the province can consider development policies for Phu Vang District. This locality can be oriented to become a town or even a district in the future. For Chan May - Lang Co, tourism and services can be developed. In addition, the airport also plays an important role, so it is advisable to turn the airport into the driving force of Huong Thuy district in the future, creating advantages for Hue City,” suggested Mr. Chinh.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, an economic expert, member of the Government advisory group, former director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, the planning will create opportunities for the province to shape a special urban area. However, for the project to be feasible and effective, it is necessary to have more specific solutions to implement the pre-determined standards and criteria.
Considering the approach of the project, Mr. Thien commented that the planned space was not enough as compared to the requirements of the upcoming period, and the shape of a modern Hue urban area needs clarifying. To achieve that, there must be a breakthrough thought added up to the vision regarding the standards of a modern city.
“Realizing the vision will create a better approach to planning space, thereby creating a different and competitive city. Hue City has a special historical mission, so it is necessary to associate that with the development orientation of the country. What we should do when it comes to the development of Hue is to closely attach it with the development of the country,” emphasized Mr. Thien. He also suggested that the province should pay attention to investing in Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone, developing urban space in lagoon and seaside areas; and setting higher targets in development indicators, especially per capita income, etc.
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| To complete the construction of the project to establish a centrally-managed municipality, Thua Thien Hue Urban Master Plan is a very important component |
Urban space for Chan May - Lang Co has not yet developed to its full potential
Regarding the development stage, the leaders of the Vietnam Association of Architects suggested that the province reconsider its vision, because the vision to 2065 is far beyond the national development vision.
“In the province's expected goals, there are some quite hard-to-achieve indicators, while the development spearheads are still not outstanding. The analysis of the causes of slow development in some areas, especially industrial zones, is still unclear. In addition, urban space for Chan May - Lang Co has not yet developed to its full potential, etc. Those are the current challenges," said the leader of the Vietnam Association of Architects.
Delivering the closing remark at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Phuong enthusiastically expressed his gratitude and appreciations towards the opinions of experts, scientists, etc., in organizing the planning project so that the province could perfect it, ensuring the gratitude implementation process is scientifically-based, having quality, breakthrough, and is highly feasible.
“The opinions at this conference are very important for the province to complete the orientation of urban area development, and to develop appropriate planning options for urban area development in accordance with the direction of Resolution 54. and the contents that the planning task has set out,” emphasized Chairman Nguyen Van Phuong.