Consequences of "suspended" planning

image-on-top(3).jpg — An urban corner in the Northwest planning direction (Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City). Photo: Department of Planning and Investment.

The shortcomings and problems in the Northwest Urban Area were investigated by the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, issuing the conclusion notice No. 28 dated February 28, 2024 on compliance with legal regulations in urban planning management, construction investment management and investment calling at the Investment and Construction Management Board of the Northwest Urban Area of Ho Chi Minh City. From there, a series of shortcomings and problems of this suspended "super city" were pointed out.

The conclusion of the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate determined that the Management Board of the Northwest Urban Area was responsible for the slow preparation of documents for appraisal of planning tasks for the urban area's subdivisions. This affected the process of attracting investment and implementing construction projects. The public announcement of planning was still slow compared to the direction of the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; urban design documents were not yet prepared in the subdivision planning projects; documents were not prepared, boundary markers were not placed, and the investors were not urged, monitored and inspected; and there were related responsibilities and violations of a number of related individuals and groups.

The announcement said that from 2015 to 2022, the Northwest Urban Area Management Board carried out the adjustment of the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area, which affected the attraction of investment as well as the implementation of construction projects. Therefore, the land plots in this urban area, although expected to call for investors, are temporarily suspended, waiting for the completion of the planning adjustment work. Specifically, the Northwest Urban Area Management Board organized the adjustment of the urban area planning from June 2016 to February 2020, taking more than 3 years and 8 months to complete the step of approving the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan. This work was determined by the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate to be carried out too slowly, not in accordance with the direction of the City Party Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to complete it by the end of 2016. Not only was the task approval step slow, the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate also determined that the dossier submission for the appraisal of the 1/5,000 zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area had to be done many times, also taking 11 months. Therefore, it did not ensure consistency and timeliness in terms of quality and technical requirements. This work was carried out too slowly, and did not ensure the Government 's Decree 37 on the establishment, appraisal, approval and management of urban planning.

Regarding the stages under the authority of departments, agencies and units of Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate pointed out that the time from when the planning task was approved until the Department of Planning and Architecture appraised and submitted the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for reporting to the Prime Minister for consideration took up to 10 months. Up to the time of inspection, the planning project had lasted more than 3.5 years, too slow compared to the regulations in Decree 37.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, the responsibility for the above mentioned limitations, shortcomings and violations lies with the leaders of the Northwest Urban Area Management Board, organizations and individuals under this Urban Area Management Board at the relevant period and the consulting units that prepared the relevant planning project.

From the conclusion announcement of the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, Mr. Ngo Minh Chau - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has directed and assigned the Head of the Northwest Urban Area Management Board to review the responsibilities according to his authority with organizations and individuals with related shortcomings and violations. Particularly for consulting units, it is necessary to supplement and overcome the limited and deficient content of the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan and the 1/2,000 scale zoning plan. The Northwest Urban Area Management Board is responsible for reviewing and adjusting the value when settling according to regulations because the submission for approval of the task outline and the total estimate for the 1/5,000 scale construction zoning plan of the Northwest Urban Area is not accurate in terms of area, causing an increase in the cost of establishing the total estimate for the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan adjustment project of the Northwest Urban Area of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Northwest Urban Area is one of the typical "super projects" with a large scale, spanning across Cu Chi district (HCMC) and was approved by the Prime Minister in 1998. In 2005, the HCMC People's Committee approved the task and general construction planning project at a scale of 1/5,000, then continued to approve the population size for this urban area as 300,000 people.

In fact, the Northwest Urban Area, despite more than 20 years of planning and the government even taking steps to initiate this "super project", has not yet been implemented according to the approved plan. The reason has been "dissected" many times at meetings of the People's Committee and People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City, but mainly due to problems with compensation and site clearance of existing residential areas within the planning boundary, leading to frustration and complaints. To overcome difficulties for this urban area and open the direction for satellite urban development in the Northwest region, a lot of dedication and determination from the Ho Chi Minh City government is still needed in the coming time.

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