TOD urban development solutions in Ho Chi Minh City

On December 3, the Vietnam Real Estate Association (VREA), Vietnam Real Estate Electronic Magazine (Reatimes) and the Vietnam Real Estate Research Institute (VIRES) jointly organized the annual event: The 1st Southern Dynamic Real Estate Forum and the Ceremony to Honor Typical Real Estate Brands, Products and Services of the Southern Dynamic Real Estate Region in 2025.

At the seminar "Trends and opportunities for real estate investment in urban areas of the Southern Dynamic Zone", experts and businesses set out a new planning vision for the Southern Dynamic Zone and a shift from "local development" to "multipolar - multi-center" thinking, aiming to build a continuous economic - urban - infrastructure linkage chain.

In which, TOD urban area ( urban development model oriented towards public transport development) is the most optimal solution to the problem of "multi-polar - multi-center" development planning, at the same time helping to solve the problem of traffic pressure and environmental pollution.

- Ảnh 1. — Speaker at the seminar "Trends and opportunities for real estate investment in urban areas of the Southern Dynamic Region"

Dr. Nguyen Van Khoi, Chairman of VREA, former Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, said that the National Assembly is amending the Planning Law in the direction of decentralization and delegation of power to localities. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City is identified as an important development nucleus of the whole country. Therefore, real estate enterprises need to quickly concretize it into strategies for their businesses.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, Member of the Advisory Group for the Establishment of the International Finance Center in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Ho Chi Minh City is now called a "Mega City" because its area and population are equivalent to Tokyo's and second only to Shanghai's. Ho Chi Minh City aims to become a megacity in the region. This is an opportunity but also a big challenge.

Talking about the TOD model, Mr. Huan said that Singapore has a policy of limiting personal vehicles to the maximum, forcing people to use public transport such as the metro. Real estate prices near metro stations will be 30% higher than elsewhere. In particular, in Singapore, the cost of equipping and purchasing personal vehicles is extremely high, so not everyone can buy a car.

Therefore, according to Mr. Huan, for TOD to be successful, in addition to developing metro lines, there must be specific policies to limit personal vehicles.

Dr. Huynh Thanh Dien, lecturer at Nguyen Tat Thanh University, said that in the field of urban planning, it is necessary to promote the spirit of "constructive state"; planning must come first, then think about the routes to follow. Only then can we create a harmonious and suitable living space, such as urban areas developed around train stations. According to Mr. Dien, real estate businesses should think in the direction of "creating" lifestyles, creating ecosystems, sticking to routes to do projects, not following the "wave". Creating living space first and then developing urban areas will avoid wasting social resources.

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