Dong Ha urban area began to be built in the early 20th century, but the rapid and strong urbanization process did not begin until after 1989 - when Dong Ha was chosen as the provincial capital. In particular, in recent years, thanks to the growth of the economy and the investment attention of the province, Dong Ha City has initially created a new face of urban civilization. However, along with the transformation of the economic structure towards strong development of industry, trade and services, urban planning work in line with the development trend of Dong Ha City is very urgent.
Step by step forming a reasonable urban structure with spreading power
It can be seen that, based on the advantage of geographical location, Dong Ha town (formerly), now Dong Ha city, through the historical periods of the nation, recent and modern, has always been one of the economic and social centers of Quang Tri province and the Central region.
In 1989, Dong Ha was chosen as the provincial capital of Quang Tri province. To be worthy of being the political , economic and cultural center of the province, the Resolution of the Congress of the Party Committee of Dong Ha town for the 1992 - 1996 term determined: implementing the motto of the State and the People working together, using urban areas to nurture urban areas to mobilize many sources of capital, labor, materials, techniques... to create a combined strength to continue to gradually complete, renew and upgrade traffic routes, water supply and drainage systems, electricity networks, quickly naming roads, streets and house numbers; investing in building infrastructure in the direction of long-term development, associated with production, business and environmental improvement, adding beauty to the town, implementing urbanization in the direction of civilization and modernity...
A new urban area in Dong Ha City - Photo: D.T
In the article: “Thinking about how to raise the issue of planning Dong Ha town” published in Quang Tri newspaper on August 3, 1989, architect Bui Hiet wrote: “The provincial capital is usually the political, economic and cultural center of a province. Planning Dong Ha town is also the task of reorganizing the system of technical facilities to serve the production, life and culture of the whole province to improve day by day, not only serving the needs of the town, it has a strategic significance for the whole province.
In turn, Dong Ha town is like an object, an entity serving that common purpose. So it is necessary to create for Dong Ha itself a reasonable structure, strong enough, capable of spreading and influencing the whole province. Dong Ha town planning does not only have a “purpose in itself”.
With great efforts, since the re-establishment of Quang Tri province (July 1989), Dong Ha has focused on urban planning. With 7,255 hectares of natural area, the urban area accounts for 60.5% of the total area, a population of over 80,000 people, divided into 9 administrative units at ward level, Dong Ha has gradually formed many new residential areas, thousands of houses with modern architecture built according to planning have contributed to making the urban appearance more and more spacious. Many valuable architectural works in many fields of art, religion, history are increasingly being renovated and protected, contributing to creating an architectural picture that is both modern in appearance and preserving traditional cultural identity.
The process of urbanization is closely linked to urban construction and planning. Dong Ha has gradually risen to affirm its position as the political, economic, cultural and social center of the province; at the same time, it has promoted its influence as one of the commercial exchange centers of the Central region and of countries in the Southeast Asian region.
In just 8 years (1991-1998), Dong Ha has invested over 244 billion VND for basic construction and urban planning. In particular, in the first 5 years of the 21st century (2001-2005), capital mobilized for development investment increased quite rapidly. The number of completed and put into use projects such as transportation, lighting, water supply and drainage, sidewalks, urban trees, offices, wholesale markets, schools, hospitals, medical stations, cultural institutions, etc. Dong Ha has also gradually become a bustling industrial - handicraft, trade - service center of the province and the region.
Recognizing these achievements, on August 11, 2009, the Government issued Resolution No. 33/NQ-CP establishing Dong Ha City in Quang Tri Province. This event met the expectations of the Party Committee, Government and People of Dong Ha City and Quang Tri Province. This is a great driving force contributing to opening a new development period for the central city of the province.
City planning towards three pillars: “green - friendly - dynamic”
In recent years, Dong Ha is aiming to become a type II urban area, gradually becoming a smart city, catching up with the development trend of dynamic urban areas in the country. On June 15, 2023, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province issued Decision No. 1234/QD-UBND on approving the adjustment of the General Planning of Dong Ha City to 2045.
This is truly the “key” to opening the direction of the city’s development in the new era, meeting the aspirations of the people and the urban government. As predicted by writer Hoang Phu Ngoc Tuong, from here, Dong Ha has the opportunity to promote “the comprehensive capacity of a land associated with history” and “is concentrating energy on the cross-country race in the future”.
According to the planning project, Dong Ha will aim for sustainable development, in line with the requirements of green growth and adaptation to climate change. To realize the idea of building Dong Ha City into a "Green Connected City" with three pillars of "green - friendly - dynamic", the orientation of organizing the city space with the main idea is to take Hieu River as the main landscape axis of the city, connecting the "green routes" with Thach Han River, Vinh Phuoc River, pond system, lakes... together with urban green spaces as the spatial connection factor between the existing central area and the new development area.
In the future, Dong Ha urban area will spread out in 4 directions. In the North, it will focus on developing trade, services, tourism, new urban areas, urban agriculture, connecting with the northern trade-service-tourism corridor, Quan Ngang Industrial Park, Quang Tri Airport, and exploiting the landscape on both sides of the Hieu River.
The South focuses on developing high-tech, clean industry, warehouse systems, forming educational and medical centers combined with new urban areas associated with Vinh Phuoc river ecotourism. The East focuses on developing new urban areas, developing urban agriculture, experiential ecotourism, combined with the landscape space of Thach Han river.
The West focuses on developing, renovating and embellishing existing areas, forming eco-tourism areas associated with the Khe May Lake and Trung Chi Lake parks, developing industry and logistics associated with the North-South railway and Dien Bien Phu route.
A highlight of Dong Ha City is the Hieu River. This is a river that connects and spreads, not simply bringing beautiful scenery to Dong Ha. In an effort to build the Hieu River into a typical image of Dong Ha city, now, across this charming river, there are many modern, majestic bridges, creating quite impressive architectural highlights such as Dong Ha Bridge, Song Hieu Bridge, Lotus Bridge, Saltwater Dam Bridge...
Many tourists from far away come here, and even the people of Dong Ha, Quang Tri who have the opportunity to see Hieu River now are all amazed by the pure beauty of their hometown river, just like the mood of poet Do Hoang wrote many years ago in the poem "Oh Hieu River":
Is it because of you that the river is beautiful?
Or because of the nature of our homeland!
More than 30 years ago, when shouldering the responsibility of a provincial town, Dong Ha's infrastructure could only be summarized in 6 words: "dirt roads, well water, oil lamps". On the threshold of the new spring of 2024, Dong Ha has shown remarkable efforts and remarkable growth on the path of development.
It can be affirmed that the Master Plan of Dong Ha City to 2045 basically aims to promote the city's potentials and advantages, which is an extremely important and necessary basis to serve socio-economic development, attract investment, and adapt to the development context of the entire North Central region, the Central key economic region and the East-West Economic Corridor.
This is also the basis for building Dong Ha City to soon reach the level of a type II urban area, gradually becoming a smart, rich, civilized, modern, environmentally friendly city with a sense of friendship with friends near and far...
Dao Tam Thanh
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