Land-use review tipped to help management

Hanoi will review its land use plans and the status of delayed projects in the city in an effort to improve urban planning and management, says the director of the city's Department of Planning and Architecture, Nguyen Van Hai, at a conference last week about urban planning in eight inner-city districts.

Duong Noi – Van Khe Urban Area in Ha Noi's Ha Dong District.

Faster-than-expected population growth in the city has also rendered obsolete a number of previously approved plans, Hai said. Under the city's master development plan approved by Prime Minister, the inner city had been projected to have a population of 800,000 by 2030, but its current population was 1.2 million people. To curb the rapid population growth in these areas, the Government has adopted policies to move universities, factories and ministries to outlying districts.

Hoang Mai District People's Committee vice chairman Nguyen Duc Hai said that his district's population had already exceeded what had earlier been projected for the year 2020, and it was necessary to adjust plans to match real-life situations.

Hai Ba Trung District People's Committee vice chairman Lam Anh Tuan also called for the elimination of outdated and infeasible plans. He gave the example of Tran Dai Nghia Street in the district, a crowded street that, under the city's plan, was designed to become a river with two 13-metre-wide roads running alongside.

The rapid pace of urban development, poor planning and insufficient co-ordination among Government agencies have all been blamed, as well, for rampant violations of construction regulations and plans.

In the past two years, over 1,700 projects have violated building regulations, noted Hoan Kiem District People's Committee chairman Vu Van Vien, who suggested that authorities should issue "completion documents" to contractors to better control construction works. A finished building could only be put into use once "completion documents" were issued, he said, a requirement that would reduce the number buildings erected without licences or in violation of aproved plans.