Ho Chi Minh City should provide more affordable housing for low-income households and individuals, preferably using public and international funding, an official suggested.
 
The shortage of housing for low earners poses a risk to sustainable urban development, Deputy Manager of the Urban Development Office under the municipal Department of Construction Nguyen Thy Hai Ly warned.

Speaking to experts and officials at an international workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on October 1, she called for infrastructure to be upgraded and more financial assistance to be given to less well-off citizens.
Doc. Tran Thi Kim Xuyen from Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities (HCMUSSH) explained that the more social assistance was provided to displaced, disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society, the easier it would be for them to settle into a normal life.

Urban Management researcher at Ho Chi Minh City’s Institute for Development Studies, Dr Du Phuoc Tan, said the concept of low-cost residential housing still needed to be enhanced.

The most important factors that motivate residents to stay in accommodation long term are transport links and proximity to their place of work, he added.

The workshop was co-hosted by the HCMUSSH and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Asia, a German non-profit foundation.-VNA