Affirming that culture is a core element of development infrastructure

At the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly, contributing comments to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning, delegate Bui Hoai Son - National Assembly Delegation of Hanoi City said that the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning is a draft law of special importance, not only for socio -economic development in general, but also for the cultural sector - where a long-term, unified and in-depth planning vision is needed.

The delegate said that one of the remarkable advances of this draft is that it emphasizes the role of technical and specialized planning, including the cultural field - something that was previously obscure. Affirming that culture is a field that needs separate planning, with a specific set of criteria, will help localities be more proactive in developing cultural institutions, planning creative spaces, preserving heritage, organizing festivals, developing cultural tourism , etc.

In particular, in Article 27 on the provincial planning content, the draft has for the first time included cultural, sports and tourism institutions in the social infrastructure development plan. This is of great significance, not only helping to clearly allocate investment resources for the cultural sector, but also affirming that culture is a core element of development infrastructure - a progressive viewpoint in line with the Party's spirit in recent documents: "Cultural development is on par with economic, political and social development".

In addition, the new regulations on regional planning require clearly defining the development direction of functional areas, technical and social infrastructure, including cultural corridors, heritage tourism areas, and spaces for preserving regional identities. Thanks to that, special cultural regions such as the Northwest, Central Highlands, Red River Delta, etc. will have the conditions to preserve and promote unique cultural values, serving regional economic development associated with sustainable tourism.

Delegate Bui Hoai Son - National Assembly Delegation of Hanoi City

According to delegate Bui Hoai Son, the draft Law also shows a connected and integrated mindset, when it allows national, regional and provincial planning to be established simultaneously and adjusted promptly when there is an arrangement of administrative units. This is very important in the current period - when many localities are implementing administrative restructuring.

Ensuring continuity and not disrupting previous cultural plans will help preserve the identity, name, and cultural memory of the community, avoiding the "disruption" of traditional cultural areas due to boundary disturbances.

Another point of progress is that in the planning development and appraisal process, the draft has expanded the mechanism for social consultation, seeking opinions from experts and professional organizations. In the cultural field, this is very practical.

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  The two National Plans on Culture, Sports and Tourism are valuable and important legal bases.

Researchers, artists, historians, social organizations on heritage conservation, cultural creative development, etc. can participate more deeply, ensuring that planning is not only legal and technically correct, but also has humanistic and historical depth and is suitable for community needs.

According to the delegate, not only "macro" planning, the draft also adjusts the planning of resource use, marine space, national defense and security land... in the direction of zoning, forecasting development impacts and integrating requirements for environmental protection, landscape, and cultural space. This creates a framework to protect heritage, scenic spots, and community cultural spaces from being overwhelmed by uncontrolled modernization projects.

"In the new stage of national development strategy, we cannot develop sustainably without placing culture at the center of development planning. The adjustments in this draft, if approved, will contribute to elevating cultural planning from "a side job" to an important pillar in the overall local and national development strategy.

I support the passage of the Draft Law, and at the same time recommend that the Government, when issuing guiding documents, should clearly specify the list of planning for the cultural sector, cultural institutions, cultural tourism, creative spaces, heritage sites, etc. so that localities have a basis for synchronous and correct implementation," the delegate recommended.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/khang-dinh-van-hoa-la-mot-thanh-to-cot-loi-cua-ha-tang-phat-trien-2025051016543836.htm