A view of Can Tho city. (Photo: VNA) Hau Giang (VNA) – A workshop on sustainableurban planning and development in the Mekong Delta was held on July 18 in thesouthern province of Hau Giang.
The event was part of a series of workshops on urban planning andsustainable development organised by the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission, the Ministry of Construction (MoC),the French Development Agency (AFD), and the provinces of Hau Giang, Son La,and Quang Tri.
It was reported that the Mekong Delta currently has 211urban areas with an urbanisation rate of 32%, lower than the national averagerate of 40.5%.
It is forecasted that from 2021 to 2025, the region willhave over 250 urban areas with an urbanisation rate of about 35-36% by 2025 andabout 42-48% by 2030.
According to studies, Vietnam is among the countries thatare heavily affected by climate change, and the Mekong Delta is among the threedeltas that will suffer the biggest inundation and lose the most land to encroachment in theworld.
At the workshop on sustainable urban planning and development in the Mekong Delta. (Photo: VNA) It is forecast that the sea level will rise by 0.5-1metre by the end of the 21st century, about 0.47 metre yearly. Therefore, ifthere is no solution to respond to climate change, 35% of the population in theMekong Delta and more than 10% of its area will be affected.
All 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta are at high risk offlooding due to climate change such as Kien Giang province (80%), Hau Giangprovince (80%), Bac Lieu province (40-50%), Soc Trang province (25-30%), and CaMau province (40-50%).
Climate change put about 300 urban areas in the coastalprovinces of Vietnam, including dozens of urban areas in the Mekong Delta, atrisk of inundation, flooding, and water source depletion due to salineintrusion.
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Director of the MoC’s UrbanDevelopment Department Tran Thi Lan Anh said that following the direction ofthe Party Central Committee and the Government on proactively responding toclimate change, the ministry coordinated with relevant ministries and agenciesto propose the Prime Minister to promulgate urban development projects onclimate change response in the period of 2013-2020 and the period of 2020-2030.
She said that a model for sustainable urban development,climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta is a combined urban-rural system.Accordingly, the combination gives priority to “making room for water",ensuring the balance of the ecosystem and the existing structure of rivers, andcanals.
According to a representative from the AFD, the management ofurban public space should pay attention to infrastructure location,roads, and access roads so that they do not prevent the flow of floodwater.
At the workshop, Chairman of the Hau Giang provincial People’s CommitteeDong Van Thanh introduced a project on green urban area development in theprovince’s Nga Bay city.
He said that the province is also gradually implementingdisaster risk management policies and integrating these policies into the provincial planning and development.
Especially, Hau Giang uses tools andmethods to integrate climate-related risks into urban development planning andurban infrastructure development, helping to strengthen the locality’sresilience.
The province also adjusted key orientations on theapproach to climate change resilience and increased public awareness of risksrelating to climate change./.
