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Sep 12, 2018 / 06:12

Hanoi to expand green works for sustainable urban development

Hanoi has paid more attention to the balance of living environment protection in order to develop in a sustainable way for the past ten years.

The land fund in inner city of Hanoi is becoming limited, while people’s demand for improving life quality is increasing. Thus, the city has set planning to harmonize infrastructure development and green growth.

Efforts to develop green city

According to urban management expert Tran Tuan Anh, for the past ten years, along with the rapid urbanization process, Hanoi has paid more attention to the balance of living environment protection in order to develop in a sustainable way.
 
Peace Park - a green building in Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung
Peace Park - a green work in Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung
Hanoi has a strategy to develop "green city" through promoting green projects, saving energy and efficiently use energy source. Besides, Hanoi has a system of trees and water surface that is relatively dense, Tuan Anh said.

In the period 2016 - 2020, the city is implementing a one-million tree project, creating the synchronism and biodiversity. The water surface element also plays a very important role in the city. It has the effect of regulating and supporting the drainage system. Moreover, lakes in the urban area contribute to the surrounding architectural space that gives Hanoi a unique identity.

In addition to some lakes such as West Lake, Sword Lake, Truc Bach, Thien Quang, Linh Dam, Giang Vo, Thanh Cong, Bay Mau, Ba Mau, Nghia Tan, Hanoi also has 13 rivers flowing around, creating a natural green space.

In recent years, the promotion of social infrastructure has also made the capital attractive, because green urban areas have sprung up, creating a nature-friendly living environment, especially green urban projects such as Time City, Gamuda City, Vinhomes Riverside, etc.

In the coming time, when the urbanization spreads to the suburbs, Hanoi will own more satellite cities that are invested with the criteria of "smart city" to protect the environment and contribute to improving the life quality for local residents.

Although Hanoi is trying to develop in the direction of green cities, Tuan Anh said that the use of land fund to develop green space to serve urban people’s life has not been exploited in a reasonable way.

Sharing Tuan Anh’s viewpoint, Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning Association Tran Ngoc Chinh said that there is so little green space at social infrastructure works in the inner city, especially apartments and multi-storey buildings.

Benefits from using renewable energy

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh added that to create a green city that will ensure sustainable development, it does not only base on ecological factors or green works (ecological works), but it is a whole of the integration, unification of development strategies, urban planning, energy use programs in the city.

One of the most effective solutions for developing green cities that not only Hanoi but also big cities in the country can put into practice is to reduce the consumption of fossil energy and increase the use of renewable energy, Tuan Anh said.

According to the chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning Association, when urban people want to make their lives greener, many investors of real estate projects focus on the landscape of new urban areas.

The maintenance of and restoration of the system of rivers, lakes and ponds helps to balance the ecological environment, enhance the capacity of urban water drainage, promote navigation and tourist activities along the rivers linked to green spaces, cultural, economic and social centers in the city and the historical metropolitan. They are all the basic elements to create Hanoi’s unique identity, Chinh stressed.