Experts discuss measures to ensure housing supply in HCM City as the area’s population has soared.
On September 17, HCM City People's Committee held a conference to discuss solutions for housing development to meet the population growth of 1 million people every 5 years in the period 2021-2035 in HCM City. HCM City Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong emphasised that as a centre of economic, culture and technology, HCM City has attracted a large number of people across Vietnam.
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh speaks at the conferencee
"The city is also facing a huge problem for housing development. Statistics show that the city has around nine million permanent residents but there are actually 13 million people living in the city. Despite the huge number of residents, there are still problems with population distribution," Phong said.
He went on to say that the population density in HCM City is 14.7 times higher than in other cities and provinces. Most people flock to its central districts. The population increases by 200,000 each year, putting huge pressure on the managers and planners.
The city authorities have decided to include housing development as one of the criteria for the city's socio-economic development until 2020 and with a view to 2025.
At the conference, Phong asked the attendees to analyse the current situation and how the housing sector has and will develop from 2006 to 2020, analyse the population distribution and population growth of the migrants from 2006 to 2020, forecast the housing demands of the citizens from 2021 to 2035 and finally is to find solutions for the population spurt problem.
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said there were still many people without homes. Many people are still living in tiny and dilapidated houses. There are also many problems with land pricing and project investor selection.
In several countries, the government have taken over the responsibility to ensure housing needs for the people again instead of depending on the private market. At first, they must focus on quality housing for low-income people.