The shortcomings and obstacles at the Northwest Urban Area were investigated by the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, which issued Conclusion Notice No. 28 dated February 28, 2024, regarding compliance with legal regulations in urban planning management, construction investment management, and investment attraction at the Management Board of Investment and Construction of the Northwest Urban Area of Ho Chi Minh City. This revealed a series of existing problems and inadequacies of this "stalled mega-city."
The conclusion of the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate determined that the Northwest Urban Area Management Board was responsible for the excessively slow submission of planning documents for the urban area's sub-areas for appraisal. This affected the process of attracting investment and implementing construction projects. The public announcement of the planning was also delayed compared to the directives of the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; urban design documents were not prepared for the sub-area planning projects; boundary markers were not established, and the preparation and monitoring of boundary marker placement by investors were not carried out; and the responsibilities and violations of several individuals and groups were involved.
The announcement stated 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 investment attraction and the implementation of construction projects. Therefore, although land plots within this urban area were expected to attract investors, projects are currently suspended pending the completion of the planning adjustment. Specifically, the Northwest Urban Area Management Board organized the adjustment of the urban area plan from June 2016 to February 2020, taking more than 3 years and 8 months to complete the approval of the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan. This work was determined by the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate to be too slow and not in accordance with the directives of the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City that it should have been completed by the end of 2016. Not only was the task approval process slow, but the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate also determined that the process of submitting documents for appraisal of the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area required multiple revisions, taking 11 months in total. Therefore, it failed to ensure consistency, timeliness, quality, and technical requirements. This process was carried out too slowly and did not comply with Government Decree 37 on the preparation, 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 the approval of the planning task to the appraisal and submission of 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. As of the time of the inspection, the planning process had dragged on for more than 3.5 years, which is far too slow compared to the regulations in Decree 37.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, the responsibility for the aforementioned shortcomings, deficiencies, and violations lies with the leadership of the Northwest Urban Area Management Board, the organizations and individuals under this Management Board during the relevant period, and the consulting units involved in preparing the planning project.
Following the conclusion of the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate's report, Mr. Ngo Minh Chau, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, directed the Head of the Northwest Urban Area Management Board to review the responsibilities of organizations and individuals involved in shortcomings and violations within their authority. Specifically, the consulting units are required to supplement and rectify the remaining limitations and deficiencies in the 1/5,000 and 1/2,000 scale zoning plans. The Northwest Urban Area Management Board is responsible for reviewing and adjusting the final settlement value according to regulations, due to inaccuracies in the area presented for approval of the task outline and total budget for the 1/5,000 scale zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area, resulting in increased costs for the revised 1/5,000 scale zoning plan for the Northwest Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Northwest Urban Area is one of the typical large-scale "mega-projects" spanning across Cu Chi District (Ho Chi Minh City) and was approved by the Prime Minister in 1998. In 2005, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved the planning task and general construction plan at a scale of 1/5,000, and subsequently approved a population size of 300,000 for this urban area.
In reality, despite being planned for over 20 years and even having taken steps to launch this "mega-project," the Northwest Urban Area has yet to be implemented according to the approved plan. The reasons have been repeatedly discussed at meetings of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and People's Council, but the main issue remains the obstacles related to compensation and land clearance for existing residential areas within the planning boundaries, leading to frustration and complaints. To resolve these difficulties and open up avenues for the development of satellite cities in the Northwest region, significant dedication and determination from the Ho Chi Minh City government are still needed in the coming years.
Source
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presides over a meeting to assess the situation during the Lunar New Year holiday.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/02/22/1771768925196_ndo_br_dsc-6283-jpg.webp)
Comment (0)