Hanoi (VNA) - 🐼Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said with the current urbanisation rate of only 42.6%, there is plenty of room for Vietnam to promote urban development.

🐷With the current urbanisation rate of only 42.6%, there is plenty of room for Vietnam to promote urban development, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said at a forum on sustainable urban development held in Hanoi on November 8.

The Politburo’s Resolution 06-NQ/TW affirmed that urbanisation is inevitable and is the driving force of urban development, he said, stressing the need to make careful preparations to ensure urban areas can promote their roles defined by the Politburo, helping to enhance the life quality of the community and increasing new surplus values for socio-economic and environmental development. According to the Resolution, after 35 years of “Doi moi” (Renewal), Vietnam has gained important achievements in urban development, including the 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.

The country's urbanisation rate estimated at over 42.6%

Economic growth poles and centres for science-technology, innovation, education and training have been formed in major cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. By the end of September 2023, the country has 902 urban areas, including two special–level urban areas, along with 22 tier-1, 35 tier-2, 46 tier-3, and 94 tier-4 urban areas. However, Nghi pointed out a number of shortcomings during the urbanisation process, with the urbanisation rate below the target set at the socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-2020 period, and a big gap between the country’s urbanisation rate and the world’s average. Meanwhile, the quality of urbanisation has been low, and the quality of urban infrastructure has yet to meet the requirements of population and economic 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 to implement the Politburo’s resolution, with the aim of speeding up urbanisation and enhance the quality of the process and form a chain of smart cities connecting with the region and the world, he said. Besides, the country needs to complete institutions and policies regarding sustainable urban planning, construction, management and development, while boosting the comprehensive urban technical infrastructure, ensuring fast and sustainable urban economic development and improving the living conditions of people in urban areas, Nghi said.

Boosting sustainable urban development

The minister said that the Government’s action programme defines 11 specific targets for the urban system, which provides a foundation for ministries, agencies and localities to build their own action plans in the work. Nguyen Duc Hien, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee’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 realise Resolution 06, showing their high awareness of the role, position and significance of urbanisation and fast and sustainable urban development. Meanwhile, Director of the Urban Development Agency under the Ministry of Construction Tran Quoc Thai proposed building five policies on sustainable urban management and development in Vietnam, including classifying and managing the development of a sustainable urban system with synchronous network suitable for particular regions, managing new areas, upgrading and re-developing modern, green, smart urban areas towards sustainable development. Besides, it is necessary to develop a synchronous urban infrastructure system with strong connectivity and resilience to climate change, he said, stressing the need to manage the urban underground space and speed up decentralisation and delegation of power in urban management and development, he added./.