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Aug 25, 2016 / 11:49

Developing Vietnam’s urban toward green growth

A forum to discuss developing Vietnam’s cities toward green growth and adapting to climate change is being held from August 23-24 in Tam Ky city, the central province of Quang Nam.

The forum, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Construction, the UN-Habitat Vietnam Programme and the provincial People’s Committee, attracted about 200 participants including domestic and international managers, scientists and experts.
At the event, participants sought to enhance the effectiveness of urban planning and management, and relevant legal framework, better access to urban services such as housing, infrastructure facilities and financial resources.

 
At the forum.
At the forum.
Poverty reduction, environmental protection and climate change adaptation were also mentioned at the forum.
Vietnam's urban system has reached many positive achievements, significantly contributing to the national economic development in the past 20 years.
Over the past years, Vietnam has recorded a fast urbanization rate, from 23.7 percent in 1999 to 35.7 percent in 2015. The rate is expected to reach 40 percent by 2020.
At present, Vietnam has 787 cities with a combined population of 32 million people.
The quick urbanisation has resulted in low-efficient land use, unmatched infrastructure, and low urban competitiveness, causing negative impacts on the people’s living conditions and the economic growth of the cities in particular and the nation in general.
Vietnam is among the countries most affected by climate change, and the issue poses new challenges to the country’s urbanisation process.
It is very necessary to promote fully the driving role of urban system through a sustainable urban development policy toward green growth and climate change adaptation, according to experts.
Nguyen Quang, Director of UN-Habitat Vietnam said that the country should encourage the involvement of the entire community in urban construction and planning development.
At the forum, international experts shared experiences in providing finance for the innovative of green growth and climate change and developing smart cities in Republic of Korea.

 
Photo for illustration
Photo for illustration
Particularly, the forum adopted the Initiative on Planning and Urban Development in 2016 with 6 recommendations, including the  improvement of effectiveness of urban planning and management, improving of governance and effectiveness of legal for urban development, improving of access to urban services, poverty reduction and growth covers, enhancing of access to house, environmental protection and effective response to climate change.
Deputy Minister of Construction Phan Thi My Linh underlined the role of urban areas in realising economic and environmental goals, saying that urbanisation gives impetus to economic growth.