Hanoi (VNA) – With the current urbanisation rateof only 42.6%, there is plenty of room for Vietnam to promote urbandevelopment, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said at a forum on sustainableurban development held in Hanoi on November 8.

The Politburo’s Resolution 06-NQ/TW affirmed that urbanisationis inevitable and is the driving force of urban development, he said, stressingthe need to make careful preparations to ensure urban areas can promote theirroles defined by the Politburo, helping to enhance the life quality of thecommunity and increasing new surplus values for socio-economic andenvironmental development.

According to the Resolution, after 35 years of “Doi moi”(Renewal), Vietnam has gained important achievements in urban development, includingthe expansion of urban spaces and improved socio-economic infrastructure. The economy of urban areas has grown at a high rate, contributing 70% of the country’s GDP.

Economic growth poles and centres for science-technology, innovation,education and training have been formed in major cities, especially Hanoi andHo Chi Minh City. By the end of September 2023, the country has 902 urbanareas, including two special–level urban areas, along with 22 tier-1, 35tier-2, 46 tier-3, and 94 tier-4 urban areas.

However, Nghi pointed out a number of shortcomingsduring the urbanisation process, with the urbanisation rate below the target set atthe socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-2020 period, and a big gapbetween the country’s urbanisation rate and the world’s average.

Meanwhile, the quality of urbanisation has been low, and thequality of urban infrastructure has yet to meet the requirements of population andeconomic development, he added.

In order to deal with these problems and realise the Politburo’s Resolution, the Government issued a resolution on an action programme toimplement the Politburo’s resolution, with the  aim of speeding up urbanisation andenhance the quality of the process and form a chain of smart cities connectingwith the region and the world, he said.

Besides, the country needs to complete institutions andpolicies regarding sustainable urban planning, construction, management anddevelopment, while boosting the comprehensive urban technical infrastructure,ensuring fast and sustainable urban economic development and improving theliving conditions of people in urban areas, Nghi said.

The minister said that the Government’s action programmedefines 11 specific targets for the urban system, which provides a foundationfor ministries, agencies and localities to build their own action plans in thework.

Nguyen Duc Hien, Vice Chairman of the Party CentralCommittee’s Economic Commission, said that currently, 60 out of 63 provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide have built and issued their own plans of action to realiseResolution 06, showing their high awareness of the role, position andsignificance of urbanisation and fast and sustainable urban development.

Meanwhile, Director of the Urban Development Agency under the Ministry of Construction TranQuoc Thai proposed building five policies on sustainable urban management anddevelopment in Vietnam, including classifying and managing the development of asustainable urban system with synchronous network suitable for particular regions,managing new areas, upgrading and re-developing modern, green, smart urbanareas towards sustainable development.

Besides, it is necessary to develop a synchronous urbaninfrastructure system with strong connectivity and resilience to climatechange, he said, stressing the need to manage the urban underground space andspeed up decentralisation and delegation of power in urban management anddevelopment, he added./.