Ho Chi Minh City plans to lessen population in central districts to deal with traffic congestion. However, it has licensed many more high rise construction projects, which would lead to more population concentration in the city and increase traffic congestion.
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| Increasing high rise building projects in HCMC’s central area |
Under urban development orientation of Ho Chi Minh City through 2025, ithe nner city (including 13 old districts) covers 14,200 hectares which are enough for 4 million to 4.5 million people (it has now 4 million people). The city has encouraged the construction of 9 to 12 story buildings or perhaps even higher to better utilise the land.
This policy has been enthusiastically welcomed, resulting in a surge in the number of high rise buildings in the inner city. According to statistics from the Department of Construction in Ho Chi Minh City, within the past 5 years, 63 out of 130 housing development projects were built in the inner city.
However, the Department said, “The policy will lead to partial population increases in the area that will create major pressure on the general infrastructure of the city.”
When residential buildings are repaired, investors often change their function into commercial and office buildings, not into residential housing. The number of local residents decreases but the number of people working increases. Most of them are living in the outskirts. They swarm into the central area in the morning and leave in the afternoon, creating a huge pressure on the transportation system.
Major routes of Xo Viet Nghe Tinh-Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Truong Chinh-Cong Hoa, Phan Dang Luu-Hoang Van Thu, Le Van Si, and Cach Mang Thang 8 have become overloaded with heavy traffic congestion everyday.
Furthermore, public transportation infrastructure cannot catch up with urban development. In a recent report, the city’s transportation industry promised to meet only 12-13% of demands by 2020.
In order to deal with the traffic situation in the city, last year the transportation industry requested that the city consider impacts on traffic flow when investors ask for permits of high-rise construction in the central area and not to issue business licenses of some fields on over 100 roads.
During a scientific seminar on the state of architecture in Ho Chi Minh City, many architects and industry experts recommended to stop issuing licenses for high-rise building construction in the central area until they city find appropriate solutions to traffic congestion issues.
However, their recommendations haven’t been acted upon and the city is continuing to allow the high-rise construction.
