The northern province of Ninh Binh unveiled a master plan for Ninh Binh City to 2030 with a vision to 2050 at a ceremony on August 14.

Under the plan, which was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 1266 dated July 28, 2014, the city will have a total area of 21,052ha, four times the current area.

The city will serve as the province’s political-administrative, economic, cultural, historical and tourism centre, as well as a national cultural-historical and tourism site. It will become a transport hub and a gateway to the southern part of the northern coastal region.

The plan’s consultancy, Japan’s Nikken Sekkei Civil Engineering Ltd., forecast that the population in Ninh Binh City will be around 285,000 in 2020 and 400,000 by 2030.

The rural area surrounding the city will serve as a green belt as well as the buffer zone for the nearby Trang An Tourism Complex which was recognised as a world cultural and natural heritage site by UNESCO in June this year.-VNA