The Prime Minister has approved the tasks that must be undertaken during the development of the Hoa Lac urban area, about 30 km west of Hanoi by 2030, with a view to easing the burden of population pressure in the centre.

The 17,300-hectare urban space, built on swathes of Quoc Oai and Thach That districts and Son Tay town outside of Hanoi, is home to four functional specialised zones: Vietnam National University, Hoa Lac high-tech park, a medical centre and an ecological urban area.

The assigned tasks comprise of analysing and evaluating the natural conditions, socio-economy, population and facilities in the region as well as making recommendations for planned future projects.

The PM has said that relevant agencies need to identify the scale of the urban area’s functional zones, technical economic norms on population density and principles for each zone’s development.

In addition, specific measures must be carried out to develop the modern urban area comprehensively and encourage resort construction in the area. Solutions to reduce the use of agricultural land and ecological preservation land for non-agricultural purposes also need to be discernable.-VNA