As of November 13, only the pavements in Districts 1, 3, 9, 12, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, Cu Chi and Nha Be will be free from businesses and services, the local government announced.

The city also restricts the number of roads where vehicles are allowed to park on the sidewalks. There are 12 out of 24 districts with 160 roads offering sidewalk parking services as long as the sidewalks are at least 3 meters wide.

Roadside parking is also limited, with 73 roads in 11 districts licensed to offer parking services as long as they are at least 7 meters wide. Parking service providers have to pay fees for this right, but the rate has not been fixed yet. According to the latest draft regulation, the fee runs from 1000 to 46,000 dong per square meter per month.

Some experts call this a new, “open” measure of HCM City authorities to gain in the “sidewalk battlefield.” Instead of blanket bans, the city now allows the legal use of sidewalk pavements and collects the fees.

HCM City authorities asked districts to report any problems arising from this new policy immediately.

Districts permitted to use pavements as public parking lot, collecting fees: District 1 (63 sites), District 3 (10), District 4 (3), District 5 (45), District 6 (3), District 11 (4), District 12 (5), Thu Duc district (1), Binh Chanh district (1), Hoc Mon district (1), Can Gio district (1).

Districts permitted to use pavements for business: District 2 (2), District 4 (3), District 5 (14), District 6 (5), District 7 (4), District 8 (24), District 10 (10), District 11 (5), Tan Phu (12), Binh Thanh (1), Go Vap (3), Binh Tan (8), Thu Duc (10), Binh Chanh (1), Hoc Mon (3), Can Gio (7).

Districts permitted to use road as parking lots: District 1 (32), District 2 (1), District 3 (4), District 5 (10), District 10 (9), Tan Phu (2), Binh Thanh (3), Go Vap (1), Binh Chanh (1), Hoc Mon (1).

VietNamNet/VNE