Tam Ky and Quy Nhon will be the first cities included in the VietnamCity Development Strategies Project (CDS), officials announced onJanuary 13 at a workshop in Hanoi.
The CDS project aims tocreate city-development strategies that involve all stakeholders, usingthe cities themselves as the driving force behind development.
"Citiescontributed up to 75 percent of the country's GDP and created millionsof jobs, serving as economic hubs to boost development," said Do VietChien, Director of the Ministry of Construction's Urban DevelopmentAgency.
However, Chien added that Vietnam had started toexperience unwanted results of unplanned development in cities acrossthe country, such as waste and inefficiency.
City development,even when planned, could still backfire if un-coordinated and lackingstrategic vision, said Dinh Thanh Tam, Director of the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment's Department of Planning Management.
"The country's development plans are often poorly constructed and lack community support," Tam said.
Inaddition, these plans complicated the development process instead ofhelping it and caused substantial damage to the environment in theprocess, according to the director general.
"With one-third ofthe population and major economic and social activities taking placeevery day, the country needs a model to guide the development of itscities now more than ever," said Nguyen Quang, UN-Habitat ProgrammeManager in Vietnam.
Quang said that CDS, a tried and testedmodel for city development, would be a useful tool for policy-makers andbusinesses in dealing with the emerging issues faced by fast-growingcities across the country, such as climate change, energy preservationand the development of competitive advantages.
D. Ajay Suri,Regional Adviser of the Cities Alliance, said the CDS project wasdifferent from other models as it focused on ways to get the communityinvolved, not just during the planning stage but also during theimplementation process.
The workshop included a presentation onTam Ky's use of the CDS model to come up with a strategic developmentplan for an environmentally friendly city and sustainable growth.Chairman of Tam Ky People's Committee Van Anh Tuan said the city wouldfocus on products and services that were complementary to those of othercities and provinces in the region such as tourism,agriculture-forestry and fisheries while investing in human resourcedevelopment as part of a long-term strategy for sustainable development.
The project will cover five more cities over two years (HaiDuong, Hung Yen, Viet Tri, Ha Tinh and Ben Tre) with sponsorship fromthe UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance, a global partnership for urbanpoverty reduction and the promotion of the role of cities in sustainabledevelopment.-VNA
The CDS project aims tocreate city-development strategies that involve all stakeholders, usingthe cities themselves as the driving force behind development.
"Citiescontributed up to 75 percent of the country's GDP and created millionsof jobs, serving as economic hubs to boost development," said Do VietChien, Director of the Ministry of Construction's Urban DevelopmentAgency.
However, Chien added that Vietnam had started toexperience unwanted results of unplanned development in cities acrossthe country, such as waste and inefficiency.
City development,even when planned, could still backfire if un-coordinated and lackingstrategic vision, said Dinh Thanh Tam, Director of the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment's Department of Planning Management.
"The country's development plans are often poorly constructed and lack community support," Tam said.
Inaddition, these plans complicated the development process instead ofhelping it and caused substantial damage to the environment in theprocess, according to the director general.
"With one-third ofthe population and major economic and social activities taking placeevery day, the country needs a model to guide the development of itscities now more than ever," said Nguyen Quang, UN-Habitat ProgrammeManager in Vietnam.
Quang said that CDS, a tried and testedmodel for city development, would be a useful tool for policy-makers andbusinesses in dealing with the emerging issues faced by fast-growingcities across the country, such as climate change, energy preservationand the development of competitive advantages.
D. Ajay Suri,Regional Adviser of the Cities Alliance, said the CDS project wasdifferent from other models as it focused on ways to get the communityinvolved, not just during the planning stage but also during theimplementation process.
The workshop included a presentation onTam Ky's use of the CDS model to come up with a strategic developmentplan for an environmentally friendly city and sustainable growth.Chairman of Tam Ky People's Committee Van Anh Tuan said the city wouldfocus on products and services that were complementary to those of othercities and provinces in the region such as tourism,agriculture-forestry and fisheries while investing in human resourcedevelopment as part of a long-term strategy for sustainable development.
The project will cover five more cities over two years (HaiDuong, Hung Yen, Viet Tri, Ha Tinh and Ben Tre) with sponsorship fromthe UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance, a global partnership for urbanpoverty reduction and the promotion of the role of cities in sustainabledevelopment.-VNA
