A view of the under-construction first metro line in HCM City. (Photo vnexpress.net)
HCMCity (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City plans to stop construction ofhigh-rise apartment buildings in downtown areas and focus instead on buildingsuch residential complexes along the first metro route in the eastern part ofthe city comprising districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc.
Undera new proposal for 2021-2030 by the Department of Construction, new housingprojects must align with the development of technical and social infrastructureand availability of land for public transport and parks.
Theymust also address city problems such as flooding and congestionand improve its landscapes and residents’ quality of life.
Thefocus will be on modern high-rises, increasing the ratio of apartment buildingsin new projects, developing housing concomitantly with urban transportinfrastructure, and moving people out of slums along canals.
Low-risehousing will be gradually transformed into high-rise housing to ensureefficient use of land that could be used to build new roads, parks and parkingspace.
Ininner districts such as 1 and 3, priority will be given to renovating andreplacing existing apartments built before 1975. No new high-rise residentialprojects will be allowed until 2030.
Indistricts 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Go Vap and BinhThanh, the department wants the number of high-rise condo projects limitedunless there are plans to install technical infrastructure.
Underthe plan, districts along the first metro line will also focus on developmentof social housing.
Theline is expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and commercial operationsare likely to begin next year. It will run some 20 kilometres from Ben Thanh indistrict 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in district 9.
Forthe five outlying districts of Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Nha Be and CanGio, priority will be given to projects in new residential areas,especially eco-tourism projects.
Developmentof new residential areas in the five districts will help reduce the populationdensity in the inner city, according to the department.
Inrecent years, the construction of a number of high-rise apartments in the cityhas worsened traffic and adversely affected urban planning, especially in innerdistricts where populations are dense and roads are narrow.
Anumber of slums still exist in the city centre, especially along pollutedcanals, the department said.
HCMCity has more than 1.9 million houses, of which 88 percent are single houses,it said.
Accordingto statistics from the HCM City Development Research Institute, between 1993and 2010 the city created 770 new residential areas, which attracted twomillion residents.
ArchitectNgo Viet Nam Son attributed such lopsided development to improper urbanplanning, too much focus on concrete buildings and encroachment of water bodiesand greenery.
“HCMCity needs to develop a comprehensive urban plan to develop housing that willaddress the problems.”
Thedepartment wants the city to encourage low-cost commercial, rental and socialhousing to prevent the construction of unlicensed housing in suburban areas.
Thedevelopers of the projects will be eligible for loans on easy terms.
Thecity targets providing housing of 22.8 square metres per capita by 2025. Itexpects to need an additional 20 million square metres of social housing bythen.
PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently called on major cities such as HCM City andHanoi to stop permitting high-rise condo buildings in the inner city andinstead develop satellite towns to redistribute the population and workforce toreduce the burden on housing, traffic and employment./.
