HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Property experts have urged Ho Chi Minh Cityto issue a special policy on new urban residential complexes toprevent the rampant and unsustainable development of residential projects.

The policy should address site clearance and the issuance ofconstruction licences, they said.

More than 20 years ago, Phu My Hung became thefirst model of a New Urban Zone in the city. Located in District 7, itcovers more than 300ha, including condos, houses, villas, shopping malls,schools and hospitals.

Since then, Phu My Hung has been one of the city’s most celebrated newurban areas. The residential complex is known as one of the most exclusiveresidential and commercial zones in the city and the entire country. 

More than 30,000 people live and work in the area, half of whom areforeigners.

After the success story of Phu My Hung, HCM City continued to develop other newprojects such as the Sala new urban residential complex in District 2 and HimLam in District 7. 

In the city’s eastern part, the Van Phuc city new urban residentialcomplex was developed in Thu Duc district. Covering 198ha, Van Phuc cityincludes villas, houses, shophouses, entertainment areas, parks, hospitals andinternational schools.

Nguyen Huong, general director of Dai Phuc Land, said that new urbanresidential complexes could become a sustainable model for the city’s planningand development. 

These kind of projects are developed over a period of time in severalphases, with the overall aim of creating modern residentialareas with many amenities and higher property values, developers said.

At a recent conference on property investment in HCM City, Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairmanof the municipal People’s Committee, said the city would develop large-scalenew urban residential projects. “These projects will improve thequality of life for residents and help develop a smart city,” hesaid.

However, developers continue to build projects, mostly condos, on smallareas of land without consistent and sustainable planning, according to Phong.

The city has approved many new urban residential complex projects, but most ofthem are still on paper, except for a handful of projects such as VanPhuc city and Vincity.

In 2010, the city’s People’s Committee asked the Hoc Mon district People’sCommittee to speed up a project to develop An Phu Hung new urbanresidential complex covering 700ha, with the aim of making it thecity’s second "Phu My Hung-like" new urban zone. 

However, the project has never been implemented due to a lack of investment.

Another project, the Sing Viet new urban residential complex in Binh Chanhdistrict, covering 331ha with a cost of 1.939 trillion VND (84.3million USD), has been planned for 20 years, but has not started forthe same reason. 

Other delayed projects include Binh Quoi-Thanh Da and Thu Thiem inDistrict 2. 

Ngo Quang Phuc, general director of the Phu Dong Real Estate Group JSC, saidthe concept of new urban residential complexes is common in more developedcountries. 

He said that HCM City should provide incentives for property developers tostart such projects throughout the city, especially in suburban areas, toensure that residents have easy access to public services such as health care,education and roads. 

According to experts, new urban residential complexes, designed byarchitects and constructed by real estate developers working with the city andcentral governments, would help improve residents' quality of life and accessto public services. — VNS/VNA