HCM City Institute for Development Studies has co-operated with Germany’s Infrastructure and Transportation Systems Consultancy Group on a project to develop the city.

Go Dua intersection on the Trans-Asia Highway in HCM City is often the site of traffic jams. Development plans will turn HCM City into one of the world’s major metropolitan cities by 2050.

Dr Gregor Wessels, the ITS director, said that while Viet Nam’s current urbanisation ratio was rather low, it was growing fast, and might be well above 60 per cent in 2050.

Wessels said imports and exports had been growing at greater than 25 per cent over the last three years, indicating Viet Nam’s growing participation in the global economy which will aid the development of HCM City.

In 2050, more than 20 per cent of the population in Viet Nam and HCM City would be above 65 years old and decreasing birth rates would create a more favourable dependency ratio, he said. He warned that if the motorisation rate – currently 8 per cent for motorbikes and 20 per cent for private cars – kept increasing, traffic congestion would get much worse.

HCM City caused from 15 per cent to 16 per cent of Viet Nam’s CO2 emission, he noted.

Thanh said under the plan, the city authorities would set emission levels according to Euro III-IV for vehicles and noted that 50 per cent of motorbikes now failed to meet the Euro II standards

Clean fuels

According to Thanh, the plan includes a network of clean fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas to replace fossil fuels as well as investments in green, recycled and clean energy. He said public transport would be developed with a subway rail system and limits on private transport means would be imposed to minimise emissions.

He also envisioned a video surveillance system in residential and public areas. There would be a focus on construction and improvement of ring and main trunk roads connecting harbours, airports, urban areas and industrial zones, while harbours inside urban areas would be moved further out.

Leaders should improve pollution laws by placing sanctions to limit emissions for industrial parks and processing zones, Thanh suggested.

The modernisation drive could threaten architectural heritage and community life, thus undermining the city’s cultural uniqueness. That was why the city also needed to have preservation plans for cultural heritage.

They said that drainage system and flood control was a major focus as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranks HCM City fifth among world cities with the highest population exposure to climate change related flooding.

E-government in connection with the administrative procedures and formalities for investment should also be quickly set up, Thanh said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News