On April 5 the World Bank (WB) released its Vietnam Urbanisation Review,which underlines the key role of urbanisation in the national economicdevelopment strategy.
The report is to provide abetter understanding of the key dimensions and aspects of Vietnam ’surbanisation process, as well as identifying trends, opportunities,challenges and core policy priorities for the country.
Victoria Kwakwa, Country Director for the World Bank in Vietnam , saidthat Vietnam is urbanising rapidly and this process is important forVietnam ’s future. Ensuring cities are livable and can also competeregionally and globally will be an essential part of Vietnam ’seconomic development strategy.
According to the Report,Vietnam is urbanising at a rate of 3.4 percent per year, most ofwhich is in and around Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi .
Urbanisation, especially in the two large economic centres, plays acentral role in Vietnam ’s economic growth and poverty reductionstrategy.
However, the existing urban systems in HoChi Minh City and Hanoi are seriously limiting their competitiveadvantages, especially regarding logistical bottlenecks, thedisproportionately high transport costs, growing congestion anddistortions in the land market.
The report suggeststhat in the largest cities, more attention should be paid to improvingurban transport and infrastructure systems, as well as strengthening thecompetitiveness of these economic regions.
The Reportargues that while Vietnam has done a relatively good job inproviding basic services and the lack of large scale slums suggests thatmost people have access to housing, there are definitely signs thatthis is changing.
The reports final analysis suggeststhat the typical housing provided today by formal land developers isaffordable to only the top 5 percent of workers in Hanoi and Ho ChiMinh. Vietnam ’s two tiered land pricing system and lack oftransparency in the land market needs to be addressed as does theextensive use of land sales and leases to finance local budgets, apractice that tends to encourage urban sprawl.
The report callson planners to address the problem of urban mobility to improvelivability in cities and provide transport options for every citizen,including the urban poor, children, the elderly and disabled.
Addressing these problems also means modernising and reformingVietnam ’s planning systems, strengthening urban management andensuring better coordination between different levels of government aswell as between city departments.
Dean A.Cira, a leading UrbanSpecialist for the World Bank in Vietnam , who led the team thatproduced the report, said that well managed urbanisation could supportVietnam ’s economic growth and help its Socio-Economic DevelopmentStrategy objectives.
He said he hopes that thisreport will act as an important reference for Vietnam’s policy makersand others concerned about Vietnam’s urbanisation process.-VNA