2017 Volume 4 Pages 58-70
The urban planning system in Vietnam had been developed under the strong influence of the doctrines and practices of the former Soviet Union. However, following the adoption of the Doi Moi Policy in 1986, the Vietnamese economy has been in the transition from a socialist to an open market economy, and urban development activities have diversified from being state-run initiatives to private enterprises. Under such socio-economic circumstances, the urban planning system with its obsolete and inappropriate institutional structure has not appropriately regulated urban development activities in big cities in Vietnam. To deal with such institutional shortcoming, Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction (MOC), which is in charge of urban planning, has put a lot of effort to improve the legal system including the enforcement of the Law on Urban Planning in 2010, which is the first law on urban planning in Vietnam.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous city in Vietnam, two legal urban plans covering the city’s central business district (CBD) were formulated in 2012 and 2013 in accordance with the newly established law. These plans are the first full-fledged urban plans based on the new law, and they contain many innovative regulations and guidelines to make up for the shortcomings of Vietnam’s current urban planning system. Among these regulations and guidelines are the regulation for awarding a bonus floor area ratio and the guideline for preservation of historical landscapes.
This paper discusses the development and issues of Vietnam’s legal system of urban planning, the contents and formulation process of the aforesaid innovative two urban plans for the CBD in Ho Chi Minh City, and the application situation of these urban plans for three years after their approval. These two legalized urban plans in Ho Chi Minh City have been utilized for the orderly creation of urban spaces with the contribution to the public good. However, since several issues on their application have been observed, the urban plans have to be reviewed and modified periodically. Also, to disseminate the innovative urban plans to other areas, the guidelines for the formulation of the complicated urban planning system and their operation manuals are expected to be made under the initiative of the MOC.
