Experts said there was a new trend in
the country’s continuing urbanisation process – a move away from city centres to
the suburbs to enjoy the fresher surroundings there.

Speaking at a recent
seminar in HCM City on urban development, they said with rapid urbanisation,
cities like Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City are facing serious housing and
employment shortages, pollution, creaking infrastructure, and social insecurity.

To escape, many urban
residents, mainly middle-class people, are moving to greener areas in the
suburbs which are yet to be defiled by urbanisation.

Viet Nam’s
urbanisation process began in 1990 and has since gathered momentum, reaching
annual growth rates of up to 23 per cent.

The urbanisation rate
is expected to top 40 per cent by 2020, increasing urban land area to 450,000ha.

As a result of the
reverse migration to suburbs, the real estate market in these areas is
improving.

HCM City is a typical
example. In the first quarter, the number of real estate transactions in
District 2 increased by 200 per cent over the last quarter of 2010.

Land prices here are
up by more than 5 per cent, according to Huynh Thanh Tam, a property agent in
District 2.

Many people are
opting to live in District 2 since, besides having a clean natural environment,
it also has quality infrastructure thanks to an ongoing plan to turn it into a
financial, trading, and service hub.

Transport is one of
its strengths, boasting as it does of the Thu Thiem Road, East-West Highway, Thu
Thiem Tunnel, Highway 25 B, and the HCM City – Long Thanh Expressway and the Ben
Thanh-Suoi Tien metro, the city’s first of its kind.

Similarly, District
9, also with good environmental and infrastructure conditions, has also become a
magnet for City residents.

The fact that many
luxury housing projects have come up or are coming up in Districts 2 and 9
clearly shows their attractiveness.

They include
Sanctuary Ho Tram, Casalle Hills Phan Thiet, Laguna Long Hai, Evason Hideaway
Con Dao, Long Thanh Golf, Sai Gon-Mekong E. City, and Kim Cuong Island.

Ly Khanh Tam Thao
from the city’s Planning and Architecture Department agreed that the two places
are ideal for building eco-urban housing.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News