Proposal to upgrade Binh Chanh to a city

The Institute for Development Studies proposed that Binh Chanh district should be a city under Ho Chi Minh City because the locality is unlikely to be converted into a district before 2030.

The proposal was made by the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) in a draft proposal to complete the project to turn Binh Chanh district into a district or city, scheduled to take place on September 22.

Binh Chanh is a suburban district at the southwestern gateway of Ho Chi Minh City, with an area of 252 km2, second only to Can Gio and Cu Chi. This is the most populous district in the country with 711,000 people. In recent years, the urbanization rate in the area has been increasing rapidly.

A part of Binh Chanh district from above. Photo: Thanh Tung — A part of Binh Chanh district from above. Photo: *Thanh Tung*

According to HIDS, comparing the current situation and standards according to the Resolution on urban classification; Resolution on standards of administrative units and classification of administrative units, Binh Chanh is not likely to be converted into a district-level administrative unit from now until 2030.

Meanwhile, this locality can achieve the criteria for urban classification type III, converting to a city model within a city by 2025. To achieve this goal, by 2030, Binh Chanh district needs to invest in many projects to develop urban infrastructure, transportation, environmental improvement... The total investment capital is estimated at about 122,695 billion VND, including socialized sources.

According to Resolution 1211 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the standards for a provincial city or a centrally-run city include: 150,000 people or more; an area of over 150 km2; more than 10 commune-level administrative units; the ratio of wards to the total number of commune-level administrative units is from 65%...

The criteria for becoming a district under a centrally-run city include: population density of 10,000 people per square kilometer; non-agricultural labor rate of 90% of total labor force; proportion of industry, trade, services, and tourism in the economic structure of 90% or more; synchronous and complete urban infrastructure...

According to HIDS, although it is a traffic hub connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the Mekong Delta provinces, the internal traffic infrastructure in the district is still limited, especially in the neighboring areas and adjacent to Long An . This has greatly hindered the urbanization process, economic development and connection between the two regions.

Besides, there is still a lot of land in the district but it has not been exploited effectively. The management apparatus according to rural administrative units faces many difficulties and cannot make breakthroughs in economic and social development to improve the quality of life for the people.

The conversion from district level to urban administrative unit (city model within city) is expected to help Binh Chanh have conditions to invest in infrastructure and exploit potential and strengths.

The plan to invest in building districts to establish administrative units of districts or cities is a task set out in the Resolution of the 11th Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term. Over the past two years, five districts of Ho Chi Minh City, namely Cu Chi, Binh Chanh, Can Gio, Nha Be and Hoc Mon, have all wanted to become cities before 2030.

Late last year, after a meeting on the progress of the Project on investment and construction of districts into districts (or cities) in the period of 2021-2030, the City People's Committee requested that suburban districts not apply for approval to become districts or cities but wait until they meet Ho Chi Minh City standards to decide on a model suitable for each locality.

Le Tuyet

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