HCM City (VNS/VNA) - As the world's great cities look to thefuture, one trend that has become increasingly unavoidable is the developmentof sustainable green urban areas. This shift is driven by a desire to createbetter, more livable environments for citizens and to improve their overallquality of life.

In Vietnam, a growing number of cities and municipalities are embracing thistrend and are making plans to develop green urban areas that will help toprotect the environment and support healthy, thriving communities.

Reality of green cities

According to the Technical Infrastructure Department, the average tree densityacross Vietnam is only 2-3 sq.m per capita. This is a low figure compared tothe criteria of the United Nations of 10 sq.m per capita and one-fifth to one-tenthof the number in big cities worldwide, which is around 20-25 sq.m per capita.

In Ho Chi Minh City, although national standards indicate tree density is 15 sq.m percapita, the actual figure is much lower, at only one sq.m per capita.

The total area planned for public parks in HCM City is 11,400 hectares, whichequates to a tree density of 7 sq.m per capita. However, only 500 hectares areused as parks, which is only a mere 0.55 sq.m per capita.

HCM City needs to plan and build "green belts" around the city, accordingto Dinh Quang Diep, former head of the Department of Scenery and Flower GardenTechnology.

Diep's suggestion is because land reserves for green development in centralurban areas, such as in Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10, are no longer available.New urban areas in development need green areas to accompany the concretearchitecture.

HCM City authorities have been raising the criteria of land reserves for treesin the city while trying to fulfil the current plans for developing parks inthe city.

HCM City plans at least 150 hectares of parks and 10 hectares of publicgreenery from 2021 to 2025. The city will need to plant 10 million trees to getthis done.

In Bien Hoa, Dong Nai province, where six industrial areas are present, theeconomic development has brought about a great rise in population andurbanisation.

Bien Hoa is the most populous Class I urban area in Vietnam, with more than1.15 million residents. This high population density has made the land reservesin the city smaller, leading to a decrease in land for trees.

The Ministry of Construction's technical regulation states that Class I urbanareas must have a tree density of at least 6 sq.m per capita, but Bien Hoa currentlyhas just over one sq.m per capita.

To meet up with demands for green development, Bien Hoa is focusing onreworking its plans for 2030 and 2050.

Opening up a greener space

For years, the green development of HCM City has been tied to the developmentof infrastructures. However, the speed of green development has never caught upto the speed of urbanisation, especially in areas such as Thu Duc, Binh Tan, BinhChanh, and Nha Be.

Experts suggested that HCM City must tightly manage the areas planned for parksthat have been misused. Urban and residential projects must seriously commit tobuilding parks for a more harmonious environment.

Thu Duc city has ordered 34 wards to gather feedback from residents to build ageneral plan for 2040 to 2060. The wards are also ordered to review the currentpublic land reserves planned for parks.

HCM City should have a policy that allows social investments in developingpublic parks of 10 hectares or more, said Nguyen Dinh Hoa, architect and urbanplanning expert.

Hoa suggested the parks provide proper ways of generating their own income,such as paid amusement parks, art exhibition areas, and indoor or outdoor gyms.

To achieve their tree density criteria of 3-4 sq.m per capita in 2030, HCM Cityhas started a campaign, "Every resident plant a tree".

Funding and human resources, and volunteers have also been called in theirquest to plant ten million trees by 2025.

The city also focuses on building legal frameworks and policies that attractinvestors to build greenery parks. The government will plan for each of theseprojects, build policies to gather investment, and manage policies to developand maintain these parks.

In Bien Hoa, Dong Nai, the authorities have been focusing on the development ofnew parks and greenery across the city in recent years.

Do Khoi Nguyen, chairman of the Bien Hoa People's Committee, suggested the citybe allowed to enact their own measures to increase the tree density rate.

The city will gather investors to build parking lots which had to incorporateareas for greenery. The investors of these parking lots are also responsiblefor managing and developing green areas.

Smaller parks are also planned to be built in the city, which would also meetthe demands for recreation of the public, as well as increase the urban greenareas./.