Urgent need for digital transformation in planning work

This is an activity to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Capital Liberation Day. Attending was Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan.

Identify existing problems and limitations

Affirming the role of architectural planning in urban development in particular and the socio -economic development of the Capital in general, Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem - Vice President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association emphasized that the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital is also a particularly important milestone for the career of architectural planning and urban management of Hanoi, because this work is always an important and indispensable part in the socio-economic development of the City.

Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan spoke at the workshop.

Over the past 70 years, Hanoi has adjusted its administrative boundaries four times and approved its master plan seven times, demonstrating that planning work has always been synchronous, objective, serious, and closely following the direction of the Party and State.

“Over the past 70 years, Hanoi's architectural planning and urban management have always been carried out flexibly and innovatively, but there are still problems, especially in resource mobilization and implementation organization,” said Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem.

Sharing the same viewpoint, many experts and managers have analyzed the limitations in the process of implementing planning and urban development in Hanoi over the past 70 years. According to Dr. Nguyen Quang - former Director of UN-Habitat Vietnam, Hanoi is a city with a fast growth rate. Over the past 60 years (from 1960 to 2020), the capital's population increased 12.5 times and the land area increased more than 22 times, surpassing all small and medium-sized cities in the world . However, Hanoi's urbanization rate is still low and according to urban standards, Hanoi is just a province.

Hanoi is also special because of the number of traditional craft villages, but the development of craft villages also goes hand in hand with serious environmental pollution, where untreated waste is discharged directly into rivers, lakes and the air. The capital is also special because of its ecosystem of ponds, lakes and rivers, but the city always faces flooding...

“The Covid-19 pandemic as well as the negative impacts of natural disasters, floods, inundations, and fires have exposed many shortcomings, including traffic congestion, unsuitable housing, lack of amenities and accessibility in disaster management…” - Dr. Nguyen Quang stated.

Identifying the challenges facing the urban development planning of the Capital in recent times, Director of the Department of Planning and Architecture, Master of Architecture Nguyen Trong Ky Anh, said that the Master Plan for the Capital's construction to 2030, with a vision to 2050, was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1259/QD-TTg dated July 26, 2011, defining the urban structure of Hanoi City according to the urban network model including: 1 central urban area, 5 satellite urban areas, 3 ecological towns, 9 district towns; maintaining rural areas (green corridors) as buffer zones between urban areas, limiting urban expansion according to the "oil spill" model, improving the ecological environment for urban areas.

However, after more than 10 years of planning implementation, satellite urban structures have not been formed, and urbanization goals have not been achieved; urban subdivisions do not have clear functions, and have not exploited the existing strengths and characteristics of the area; technical infrastructure and social infrastructure have not kept up with the pace of development; the structural distribution of economic sectors is not consistent with urban development, thereby causing consequences of real estate bubbles and suspended planning; policies to relocate universities, educational and medical facilities have not been effective; green spaces, underground spaces, and public spaces have not been invested in, managed, or given due attention...

A corner of Hanoi seen from above. Photo: Hai Linh

Propose many breakthrough solutions

From recognizing the limitations, experts have proposed breakthrough solutions to concretize the goal of developing Hanoi Capital according to the model of a smart city, a creative city, green development, and adaptation to climate change.

In particular, Dr. Nguyen Quang proposed: Hanoi is an important heritage city, so the capital's tangible and intangible cultural heritages must be considered social assets, helping to enhance the identity of a city, contributing to improving the quality of life and urban economy. Hanoi's urban redevelopment needs to connect the renovation of the central area as well as suburban areas, the renovation of river and lake ecosystems and public spaces. In particular, it is necessary to consider exploiting the development space along the Red River as an ecological development axis of Hanoi.

Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem emphasized that planning work in general must be multi-disciplinary, and it is necessary to continue to raise the responsibility of the people and professional socio-political organizations. In addition, to achieve the development goal by 2030, Hanoi is a special urban area, the city needs to pay attention to harmonious development between urban and rural areas; continue to research to determine the correct position and traditional values of Hanoi.

Notably, Prof. Dr. Vo Chi My - Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Geodesy - Cartography - Remote Sensing suggested that Hanoi needs to quickly implement digital transformation in planning work. There needs to be a data infrastructure planning to accelerate the comprehensive and profound digital transformation process for the city. This will be the shortest solution to create a breakthrough, developing Hanoi into a smart, modern city.

In order to solve the problems facing the capital in the immediate and long-term periods, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan said that right from the beginning of the term, the Hanoi Party Committee issued 10 full-term work programs, which proposed specific plans and solutions.

The Hanoi Capital Master Plan for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, and the project to adjust the Hanoi Capital Master Plan to 2045, with a vision to 2065 have been reported to the Government, the National Assembly, and the Politburo (unanimously directed in Conclusion No. 80-KL/TW dated May 24, 2024), and are expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval in early October 2024. In these two plans, solutions to overcome limitations and shortcomings have been studied and the 2011 Capital Master Plan has been inherited, adding new development conditions.

Specifically, research on the construction of 5 development spatial axes; construction of Cities in the Capital, construction of the Red River and Duong River spatial axes as the central axis of landscape, culture, and core services, construction of additional international-scale airports in the South of the City,... On that basis, the City People's Committee will continue to direct the work of establishing and approving plans to implement the general planning, and at the same time complete the construction of urban development programs and plans to gradually invest in the complete and synchronous construction of the City's technical infrastructure and social infrastructure systems.

At the same time, implementing the Capital Law 2024, the City People's Committee has developed a Plan to develop specific regulations, submitted to the City People's Council for approval for implementation in practice, with strong policy mechanisms, removing difficulties and obstacles in each field, clearly defining specific responsibilities.

"The city has determined that to achieve the set tasks and goals is a difficult, long-term and persistent process, requiring the high determination of the entire political system and the people of the capital, the attention and direction of the Central Government and the coordination of all levels and sectors, the support of localities, the participation and joint efforts of intellectuals, associations, professional associations, scientists, with the spirit of Hanoi for the whole country, the whole country for the capital Hanoi" - Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan emphasized.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/yeu-cau-cap-thiet-chuyen-doi-so-trong-cong-tac-quy-hoach.html