People exercise on pavement near the Independence Palace in HCM City’s District 1. (Photo: VNA) HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - HCM City plans to build more public parks with a totalcoverage of 650ha in the next 10 years, offering at least one squaremetre of public parksper resident.
The city’s Department of Construction has submitted a 10-year detailedplan on increasing the coverage of public parks and greenery to thePeople's Committee.
By 2025, public park coverage would be increased by 150hectares, with the aim of increasing coverage per capita to 0.65sq.m.
An additional 30,000 trees would be planted by 2025 and anadditional 50,000 trees by 2030.
Le Hoa Binh, department director, said that all land lotsto be used for parks would be examined. “Depending on the characteristicsof each land lot, the department will propose projects to the Governmentto build the parks or call for investors."
Factories located in residential areas will be removed and replacedwith parks or flower gardens.
Measures will also be carried out to restrict conversion of landto be used for other purposes for land reserved for public parks.
The city will offer incentive policiesto attract more investment in public park and greeneryprojects. For large public parks of more than 100 hectares,investors can integrate entertainment areas and other services that collectfees, but they must maintain the main functions of the parks.
Investors have also been asked to ensure that green spacesare included in housing projects.
The current park and green space in the city hasfailed to meet the rising demand of residents and requirements of amodern and civilised city.
About 11,400ha of land should be reserved for public parks,with 7sq.m of park per person, according to the city's urban planning.
By the end of 2018, the city had 369 parks covering more than500ha in public places and residential areas. The coverage area per capitais 0.55sq.m.
Only around 1.54 hectares of public parks are beingadded to the city each year.
Most public parks are located in the inner city. Thereare no public parks in the suburban districts of 9, 12, Thu Duc, Binh Tan,Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh.
Many parks were built years ago and have deteriorated, while someparks are being used for other purposes.
Half of the 9ha 23/9 Park in District 1, one of the threelargest public parks in the city, was used forshopping, entertainment and other services for years. Last year,the municipal People’s Committee banned these activities at the park.
Phu Lam Park in District 6 and Le Thi Rieng Cultural Park in District 10 alsoface the same situation.
Numerous projects for public parks have been planned since 1993, suchas Tan Thang Park in Tan Phu district and Dong Dieu Park in District 8,but construction has yet to begin.
Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the city Party Committee, recently urgedauthorities to speed up work on parks and attract more investment from theprivate sector.
“The city should learn experiences from other countries in making greeningplans,” he said.
Singapore, for example, has a long-term strategy for greenerydevelopment to better serve its residents. It has 8sq.m of landreserved for parks and trees per capita, he said.
Singapore has two million trees and a population of five million. Thereare only 102,000 trees in HCM City, which has a population of10 million.
To call for investment in parks and greenery, the city mustdevelop detailed plans, a former official of Ministry ofConstruction, Nguyen Hong Tien, said.
Nguyen Anh Tuanof the city’s Department of Planning and Architecture saidthat incentives and favourable conditions must be offeredto investors because the State budget is limited.
“Green space development should be integrated into plans for reservoirs,anti-flooding projects, housing projects, entertainment places, and touristsites,” he said./.
VNA
