Developing Dong Ha into a green growth city.

On August 8, 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 813/QD-TTg recognizing Dong Ha City as a Type II urban area, directly under Quang Tri Province. The aspiration for a dynamic young city, a driving force in Central Vietnam, a starting point eastward from the Pacific Ocean connecting with Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar on the East-West Economic Corridor to the Indian Ocean, is becoming a reality.

A green urban corner of Dong Ha city - Photo: NTH

Throughout its development journey, in 2018, Dong Ha City was honored to be one of 37 cities worldwide to reach the finals of the Green City Competition 2017-2018 organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). At the same time, Dong Ha City was one of 23 cities selected by the Prime Minister to pilot green growth urban development, with the aim of gaining experience and replicating successful models.

In its new vision, Dong Ha aims to become a green ecological city, a smart city, where resources are planned for sustainable use by its people. The revised master plan for Dong Ha city until 2045 has outlined the urban strategy and space to build Dong Ha into an economic development center of the North Central region, a provincial capital, and a center for politics , culture, services, trade, finance, tourism, and industry of the province, becoming one of the driving urban centers on the East-West Economic Corridor. Currently, the city is focusing on coordinating with provincial departments and agencies to review and adjust its development according to green and sustainable urban criteria.

Dong Ha City is one of 23 cities selected by the Prime Minister to pilot the development of green growth cities, with the aim of gaining experience and replicating successful models. In this new vision, Dong Ha aims to become a green ecological city, a smart city, where resources are planned for sustainable use by its residents.

To mobilize social investment capital and investment capital for urban infrastructure development towards green urban growth, Dong Ha city has proactively developed a list of programs and projects to attract investment, and has actively sought ODA funding and national urban upgrading programs, such as: Urban development along the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridor; Livelihood Support Project for cities along the Greater Mekong Subregion corridor (ADB); establishing and proposing projects for the development of dynamic cities - Dong Ha sub-project; Central Coastal Urban Development Project towards green growth and climate change adaptation (AFD); Dong Ha city drainage, collection and wastewater treatment project...

During the period 2013-2019, the city mobilized a total social investment capital of over 16,000 billion VND, reaching approximately 19,756 billion VND in the three years from 2021-2023. Budget revenue in the area increased by an average of 31.2% per year during the 2021-2023 period.

From the resources mobilized, Dong Ha city has directed the construction of approximately 20 new urban and residential area projects, prioritizing the implementation of several large-scale urban areas to create architectural and urban landscape highlights. The social infrastructure system has also received significant investment to better serve the needs of the people.

Key social infrastructure projects that create architectural and urban landscape highlights are receiving focused investment, such as: the Provincial Cultural and Film Center; the Dong Ha City Central Cultural House; Fidel Park; a system of parks and gardens; hospitals and medical facilities.

Construction projects for wholesale markets, central markets, Ward 4 markets, Ward 3 night markets, clusters of food and beverage service points along the Thach Han and Hieu rivers, and hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and shopping centers have been invested in, making the city's appearance increasingly modern, civilized, and attractive. To date, the poverty rate in Dong Ha city has decreased to 1.47%; the people's living standards continue to improve and be enhanced.

Developing Dong Ha into a green growth city.

The cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hieu River creates an architectural highlight for the green urban area of Dong Ha - Photo: NTH

With the goal of developing Dong Ha city to essentially meet the criteria of a Class I urban area by 2045, becoming a green, smart, and sustainably developing city, the general urban plan for Dong Ha will be developed according to a model and urban spatial structure comprising an existing center with three routes and four breakthrough points.

The central route features the urban landscape of the Hieu River, linked with commerce, services, and tourism; the northern route is a corridor for commerce, services, healthcare, and sports; and the southern route is a corridor for environmentally friendly high-tech industries and warehouses. The breakthroughs for Dong Ha city include: the northern commercial and service zone and dynamic center; the southern ecological urban area; the eastern commercial and service urban area; and the Khe May and Trung Chi lake ecological zones.

Currently, Dong Ha city is approaching and accelerating the implementation of the Central Coastal Urban Development Project aimed at green growth and climate change adaptation, using capital funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), with a total project investment of over 1,152 billion VND.

The project has two components: investment in construction and technical support and capacity building. The green infrastructure projects include: Construction of a 4,690m long embankment and dredging of the Hói Sòng stream; construction of an embankment on the west bank of the Thạch Hãn River and the north bank of the Vĩnh Phước River, approximately 7,018m long; construction of an embankment and dredging of the downstream drainage system of Trung Chỉ Lake, approximately 1,835m long on each side; construction of an embankment and dredging of the downstream drainage system of Khe Mây Lake, approximately 1,710m long on each side; upgrading the infrastructure of the southern Hiếu River; and upgrading and improving infrastructure in low-income areas to create a sustainable living environment for urban residents.

The project also aims to upgrade the infrastructure of low-income residential areas, invest in drainage and wastewater collection systems, and improve the transportation system in the sub-districts to improve living conditions, environmental sanitation, access to urban services, and rescue operations.

This is of significant importance in enhancing the status, promoting development and structural transformation of the economy in parallel with the development of civilized, modern, and sustainable urban infrastructure, contributing to increasing the ripple effect on the urban system of the province and the urban system of the North Central and Central Coastal regions.

Based on the approved revised master plan for Dong Ha city, Quang Tri province, until 2045, Dong Ha city will focus on leveraging all resources to create breakthroughs in investing in the construction of synchronous technical infrastructure associated with building a smart city, and continue to improve and enhance the quality of criteria for a type II urban area. Dong Ha will have new momentum when connecting with the Southeast Quang Tri Economic Zone, My Thuy deep-water seaport, Cua Viet port, Quang Tri airport, the North-South expressway and the Cam Lo-Lao Bao expressway, making an important contribution to connecting with cities in the region and becoming a driving force for the province's development on the East-West Economic Corridor.

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