The government of HCMC should change its urban planning concept towards a compact city to effectively deal with worsening traffic congestion, said the academic director of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program.

Huynh The Du, speaking at a seminar on construction management, gentrification and urban development in HCMC held by the Ministry of Construction and the municipal government last Friday, proposed the city promote high residential density, instead of doing otherwise.

More high-rise buildings should be developed in downtown while stepping up development of public transit to make it more convenient for people to commute, he said.

Du’s proposal is in stark contrast with the long-held belief that to cope with increasing traffic jams, the city should reduce residential density in the current core area by building more satellite towns in fringe districts, and constructing or widening roads.

However, Du said the city should limit road construction and expansion to have funds for upgrading and developing the rundown transit system.

“HCMC should adopt the concept of compact city plus well developed public transit. The key solution is to allow more people to live in a certain area to increase residential density, instead of lowering it. This goes against what many people have thought but it is the way out for the urban traffic problem,” he argued.

Many major global cities set aside a small area for urban development, he said, and they focus on developing public transport, Du noted.

For example, Hong Kong uses only 200 of ​​1,100 square kilometers of land for urban development, and South Korea’s Seoul, Singapore and Japan’s Tokyo do the same thing, he said.

But HCMC does otherwise with fewer-than-needed high-rise buildings going up in inner-city areas, he said, adding the city should have more tall buildings in downtown.

In HCMC, there are so many private vehicles while little land is reserved for road development, thus resulting in traffic congestion, Du said, and the city should review its public transit system as well.

Some other urban planning experts shared Du’s view at the seminar. Nguyen Trong Hoa, former director of the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, said the city should stick with the urban development plan that has already been approved.

The population should be kept steady while no more buildings should be developed in areas with weak soils to cope with climate change. Residential density should be increased based on an efficient transit system which discourages people to use private vehicles.

Some other experts proposed the city adopt fresh mechanisms to encourage investment in green buildings. Green space per capita of just 2.4 square meters in downtown HCMC is negligible compared to more than 30 square meters in Singapore, 41 square meters in Seoul and 50 square meters in Berlin (Germany), said Luu Thi Thanh Mau, general director of Phuc Khang Group,

She suggested the municipal government offer incentives for developers of green buildings, such as those related to finance, lending, tax and administrative procedures.