Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Planningfor five satellite urban areas in Hanoi, which is expected to helpreduce the overloading of the urban centre, lags behind schedule, themunicipal Department of Planning and Architecture has said.

Nguyen Truc Anh, director ofthe department, said the city’s general planning included five zoning plans forsatellite urban areas with a total area of more than 20,300 hectares, namelyHoa Lac, Son Tay, Xuan Mai, Phu Xuyen and Soc Son by 2030.

The satellite urban areas werehoped to develop in a complete manner from technical infrastructure tosocial infrastructure and reduce crowding and pollution in the urban centre.

However, only the planning ofHoa Lac satellite urban area has been completed and approved by the Ministry ofConstruction. The planning will be submitted for the Government’s approval inthe near future.

Son Tay and Soc Son satelliteurban areas were currently assigned to consultant units. Once completed, theplanning would be handed over to the Hanoi Urban Planning Institute.

In the first quarter of nextyear, the planning of Soc Son urban area is expected to be reported. Phu Xuyenand Xuan Mai urban areas with six sub-projects were under construction forapproval, he said.

Nguyen Nguyen Quan of thecity’s People’s Council said the city had aimed to complete the planningof the satellite urban areas in 2015, but the target had been missed.

He said it was necessary toassign responsibilities to those involved, especially the Department ofPlanning and Architecture which was the focal point for planning tasks andappraisal.

Due to the delay in satelliteurban planning, the localities were currently facing difficulties ininfrastructure construction as well as construction permits, he said.

In reply to Quan, Anh saidthe slow construction progress of satellite urban areas was due to the lowcapacity of the planning consultancy units, a shortage of input data forplanning and the lengthened process of stakeholders' consultation.

For example, the planning of SonTay satellite urban area consisting of six wards was assigned to T&TGroup. However, due to the consulting unit's inability, the project has notbeen completed.

He suggested it was necessaryto accelerate the process of digitising land data to serve planning work. Inaddition, local leaders needed to strictly follow the planning and supervisionof individuals and organisations in the area.

According to the Government’sgeneral planning in 2011, five satellite towns would be built in suburban areasof the city and could accommodate 1.4 million people, accounting for 15 percentof the city’s population by 2030./.