Tall & Urban News

The Ministry of Construction and localities must conduct inspections on urban areas that may have violated their approved plans and issue strict punishments if violations are found, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said.

Dung said National Assembly deputies and the public had expressed concern about urban plans being arbitrarily adjusted to suit investors. Infrastructure had been overloaded in some cases after developers had increased the construction density of their buildings and reduced public space. Some buildings had extra floors added that were not in the approved plans, which caused overcrowding and reduced residents’ quality of life.

Builders of projects found to have violated their approved plans would be handed strict punishments, and those who had not completed construction would have their projects halted.

According to Dung, rising urban populations are a common trend in Vietnam and around the world. People often move to large cities in search of amenities and work.

“Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have growing populations,” he said. “The population of the two cities has increased by about 200,000 people per year.”

Dung noted that investment in infrastructure and transport systems had not kept pace with population increases, leading to traffic jams and pollution.

He suggested the Government control the construction of high-rise buildings and monitor construction density in urban areas, as well as planning satellite residential areas with modern infrastructure to reduce population pressure on existing urban centers.

In the long term, the deputy PM encouraged the creation of a national strategy for urban areas that would include building industrial zones in rural regions to create more jobs outside of cities to allow people to stay in their hometowns.

For more on this story, go to VietnamNet.