Quang Ninh (VNA) – Along with economicdevelopment, urbanisation in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninhis taking place at a rapid pace.

In 1993, the province had only a second-tier urban area – HaLong city which is considered an economic, political, cultural centre of thelocality, and three towns - Cam Pha, Mong Cai and Uong Bi.

Since 2006, Quang Ninh’s strong socio-economic development,especially in industry, tourism, services and trade, has led to the formationand development of new urban areas in the locality.

The province now has 14 urban areas, including a first-tier city– Ha Long, three second-tier cities – Uong Bi, Cam Pha and Mong Cai, fourfourth-tier urban areas – Quang Yen, Dong Trieu, Cai Rong and Troi towns, andsix fifth-tier urban areas – Quang Ha, Tien Yen, Ba Che, Binh Lieu, Dam Ha andCo To towns.

Many apartment buildings and hotels have sprouted up acrossHa Long city, along with various trade and service centres such as Ha Long Iand II markets, Big C and Metro supermarkets, Vincom commercial centre, TuanChau international tourism centre and Vinpearl Ha Long Resort. 

The new urban area and commercial centre projects havecontributed to giving a facelift to the city, and driving local socio-economicdevelopment.

Quang Ninh has also invested in cultural and sportinfrastructure projects in Ha Long, including the provincial museum andlibrary, exhibition centre, 5,000-seat sporting hall and Ha Long flower park.


The PrimeMinister has approved a master plan for Ha Long by 2040 with a vision towards2050, aiming to develop the city into a world-class tourism and servicehub. 

The master plan targets to raise status for HaLong city in particular and Quang Ninh province in general in the region andthe world by developing the locality in a sustainable manner, meeting greengrowth and climate change adaptation related-requirements. 

Under the master plan, Ha Long will be developedinto a modern friendly sea tourism city with synchronous and modernsocio-economic infrastructure systems, where the World Natural Heritage Site HaLong Bay is preserved.

The city, which has an administrative boundaryof 27,753 hectares, is expected to become a national service-tourism urban areaand a driving force for regional growth.

Meanwhile, Van Don will be turned into a large-scale entertainmentand resort complex, a centre of high-tech industry and an international tourismclue.

Van Don has a politically andeconomically important position as it lies on the strategic transit route fromEast Asia to Southeast Asia and from ASEAN to China, in Vietnam-China “twocorridors, one belt” cooperation area, in Nanning-Singapore economic corridorand in extended Tonkin Gulf inter-regional cooperation area.

The Van Don Special Economic Zone is part of aGovernment-approved plan to build three such zones in the country. The othertwo are Van Phong in Khanh Hoa province and Phu Quoc in Kien Giang province.

Mong Cai city on the border with China will be developed into a moderninternational border gate, focusing on green urban development in tandem withthe construction of the Hai Ha industrial park.

The PrimeMinister has signed a decision to approve a master plan for building the MongCai border gate economic zone by 2030, a drive to make the zone a proactive andkey economic growth pole in the north.

The 121,197 hectare zone will cover 17 wards of Mong Cai city, Hai Haindustrial zone and seaport, Quang Ha town and a number of communes in Hai Hadistrict.

It is set to include a tax-free area, industrial zones, a financial centre, anadministrative centre, a residential area and other functional areas.

In addition, it will accommodate modern and comprehensive facilities with excellentservice networks and diversified tourism products. Once operational, it willimprove resident living standards while playing an important role in defending Vietnam’s seaand island sovereignty.

Underthe development plan, the zone covers a total area of more than120,000 hectares in Mong Cai city and Hai Ha district. It borders China in the north, and the East Seain the south-east.

It is expectedto become an important pole that drives economic progress in Vietnam's northern region and along the coast ofthe Gulf of Tonkin. It will also link with China's Kunmingeconomic corridor.

Quang Ninh’s urbanisation rate has reached 75 percent,nearly doubling the national number.

The province is building a programme on urban development by2030, aiming to develop five second-tier cities during the period.-VNA