Why do 5 districts of Ho Chi Minh City want to go to the city?

After Binh Chanh, Can Gio and Cu Chi announced With the development orientation to the city, the two districts of Hoc Mon and Nha Be also decided to study and develop a project on the city instead of the district as previously planned. Thus, all 5 suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh City will strive from now to 2030 to become the city.

According to regulations, localities are eligible to become cities when meeting 5 criteria on population size; natural area; number of administrative units; be recognized as a grade I, II or III urban center; structure and level of socio-economic development. Comparing these regulations, Secretary of Hoc Mon District Party Committee Tran Van Khuyen said that the city-district model is easier to implement than the district-level model.

Currently, with city regulations, Hoc Mon meets 2/5 standards of population size and natural area. As for the remaining three standards that have not been met, the district has set a target that by the end of 2025, it will meet, including: 65% of communes and townships meet the ward criteria (currently the district has 5/12 communes, 3 communes are missing); It has not been recognized as a grade III urban area and does not meet the requirements on budget revenue and expenditure, and the percentage of poor households.

Another reason why districts have abandoned the target to the district is the requirement that 100% of commune-level administrative units must meet ward standards, which means that localities must completely abandon rural areas. Meanwhile, the standard to the city only requires 65% of the commune to go to the ward. As in the case of Nha Be, all 7 communes here have not met ward standards. But if you choose to go to the city, the district only needs to convert 5 communes, and to the district, you have to upgrade all.

Nha Be District Chairman Trieu Do Hong Phuoc said: before The locality had planned to go to the district, but that was the initial desire and is in the process of being researched. After the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee discussed with experts and preliminary assessment, the district was found to be more suitable for the city model, so it was adjusted.

Mr. Phuoc assessed that Nha Be has a suitable location and characteristics to develop a satellite urban model in the South of Ho Chi Minh City. Here, the advantage is that Hiep Phuoc port can become the city’s largest international transshipment port on the Soai Rap river, along with the development of infrastructure services and logistics industry.

“The district’s expectation is to go to the city in 2025 and we are assessing the reality, to have a scientific basis before sending the official proposal to the city,” Mr. Phuoc said and said in June, the locality will complete the research project, giving the “shape” of Nha Be in the future.

Before Hoc Mon and Nha Be, the three districts of Cu Chi, Binh Chanh, and Can Gio publicly announced their intention to move to the city, not choosing a district model.

Binh Chanh District Party Committee Secretary Tran Van Nam said that the locality has the third largest area in the city, but the urbanization rate is uneven. Therefore, the district is oriented towards the city because this model has both wards and communes, and in the district, the entire administrative unit must be wards.

Meanwhile, with a very large area of ​​agricultural land, the leader of Cu Chi district said that when moving to the city, the locality will mobilize external resources to develop in the direction of a smart, ecological, urban development. high-tech industry and agriculture.

Similarly, Can Gio – the district with the largest area of ​​​​the city (705 km2) is developing a project to develop an ecological and tourist resort city.

According to Dr. Ngo Anh Vu, Director of the HCM City Institute of Construction Planning, not only people but many experts also misunderstand that it is easier to go to the district than to the city, but the opposite is true. Because in a city, the district is considered the central area, so it requires a higher degree of urbanization, while the city model still accepts the countryside.

Dr. Diep Van Son, former deputy director of the Permanent Office of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the South, said that the local “wise calculation” will naturally choose the option with easier criteria. In particular, choosing a city model helps the district to keep the rural-to-urban ratio, rather than fully urbanizing like the district, with more room for development.

However, according to Mr. Son, the city needs an upgrade route because resources are not enough to be divided equally, so it should be done first in a locality with favorable conditions. “The city is ambitious, but it also needs refinement. Especially when Thu Duc city is developing very slowly, not as expected,” he said.

Sharing the same opinion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Tuan Hung, Deputy Director of the Academy of Social Sciences (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences), said that moving to a district or city is not a problem, but important to local decisions. model is developed model suitable conditions, advantages and keep the existing identity. For example, Can Gio can develop ecological urban areas, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon need to take advantage of the historical value to attract tourism.

“The city or the district does not matter, but what to do and what benefits to the local people is the problem”, he said and said that moving to the city is the initial desire of the districts, but the Ho Chi Minh City authority needs to be calculated based on the city-wide orientation. “In a family, everyone wants to go to university. But who passes the exam, whether the family has enough money, and how parents orient their children is the deciding factor,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ngo Anh Vu said that bringing 5 districts to the city is a very long road, it is not known whether 2030 will be achieved, but the risk of “land fever” is always hidden, when people mistakenly think that the district is going to the city. in the future. “I am afraid that people will see that they are about to go to the city, so they do not worry about production and business but waiting to sell land will be very dangerous,” he said, and warned that land prices would rise too high, and infrastructure investment would be difficult later. because the cost of clearance team up.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs assessed that, in recent years, 5 suburban districts have rapidly urbanized, many urban areas, infrastructure, and highways have been formed. The educational level and urban lifestyle here are not much different from those in the inner city districts. Therefore, the construction investment of districts become districts or cities; It is necessary to convert communes and towns of districts into wards.

According to the plan, the Department of Home Affairs will complete Project of investment – construction of districts into districts (or cities of Ho Chi Minh City) period 2021-2030 submit to the City People’s Committee before September 30. At the same time, 5 districts also developed their own projects. Therefore, after these projects are submitted, the city government will decide which locality to go to the district or city.

Thu Hang