HCM City to develop hi-rises along metro line
HCM
City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City plans to stop construction of
high-rise apartment buildings in downtown areas and focus instead on building
such residential complexes along the first metro route in the eastern part of
the city comprising districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc.
Under
a new proposal for 2021-2030 by the Department of Construction, new housing
projects must align with the development of technical and social infrastructure
and availability of land for public transport and parks.
They
must also address city problems such as flooding and congestion
and improve its landscapes and residents’ quality of life.
The
focus will be on modern high-rises, increasing the ratio of apartment buildings
in new projects, developing housing concomitantly with urban transport
infrastructure, and moving people out of slums along canals.
Low-rise
housing will be gradually transformed into high-rise housing to ensure
efficient use of land that could be used to build new roads, parks and parking
space.
In
inner districts such as 1 and 3, priority will be given to renovating and
replacing existing apartments built before 1975. No new high-rise residential
projects will be allowed until 2030.
In
districts 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Go Vap and Binh
Thanh, the department wants the number of high-rise condo projects limited
unless there are plans to install technical infrastructure.
Under
the plan, districts along the first metro line will also focus on development
of social housing.
The
line is expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and commercial operations
are likely to begin next year. It will run some 20 kilometres from Ben Thanh in
district 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in district 9.
For
the five outlying districts of Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Nha Be and Can
Gio, priority will be given to projects in new residential areas,
especially eco-tourism projects.
Development
of new residential areas in the five districts will help reduce the population
density in the inner city, according to the department.
In
recent years, the construction of a number of high-rise apartments in the city
has worsened traffic and adversely affected urban planning, especially in inner
districts where populations are dense and roads are narrow.
A
number of slums still exist in the city centre, especially along polluted
canals, the department said.
HCM
City has more than 1.9 million houses, of which 88 percent are single houses,
it said.
According
to statistics from the HCM City Development Research Institute, between 1993
and 2010 the city created 770 new residential areas, which attracted two
million residents.
Architect
Ngo Viet Nam Son attributed such lopsided development to improper urban
planning, too much focus on concrete buildings and encroachment of water bodies
and greenery.
“HCM
City needs to develop a comprehensive urban plan to develop housing that will
address the problems.”
The
department wants the city to encourage low-cost commercial, rental and social
housing to prevent the construction of unlicensed housing in suburban areas.
The
developers of the projects will be eligible for loans on easy terms.
The
city targets providing housing of 22.8 square metres per capita by 2025. It
expects to need an additional 20 million square metres of social housing by
then.
Prime
Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently called on major cities such as HCM City and
Hanoi to stop permitting high-rise condo buildings in the inner city and
instead develop satellite towns to redistribute the population and workforce to
reduce the burden on housing, traffic and employment./.