The HCM City People’s Committee on May 19 submitted to the city People’s Council a project to adjust overall development planning by 2040.

According to the Committee, under the planning, some issues in urban development were not recognized. It did not specify a model to develop urban areas based on large-capacity public transport, or TOD, which is being applied in many cities around the world.

TOD has now been added to the adjusted planning. The People’s Committee has names several areas to be developed under the TOD model.

TOD areas will develop in association with new development centers, combined with urban gentrification in some areas in line with the subway network.

In addition, the HCM City People’s Committee has proposed the TOD model for surroundings of traffic intersections along Belt Road No3 as shown in the National Assembly’s Resolution 98.

Within the scope of the Belt Road No3 project, HCM City will respect the current development status, and reduce density at metro station areas and areas adjacent to key traffic intersections under the TOD model. 

It will also reduce density in the remaining areas to gentrify urban areas, and create land banks for greenery and social and technical infrastructure in order to gradually ensure compliance with national regulations and standards. 

'TOD city'

Dang Hung Vo, a consultant at the World Bank, said at a recent event that Vietnam has begun paying attention to organizing urban space under TOD and believes that it is a reasonable model for a super-city like HCM City.

Shige Sakaki from the World Bank Vietnam thinks that TOD is a reasonable choice for HCM City. TOD is an urban development model based on public transport. In a TOD city, people live and carry out activities within a 5-10 minute walking distance to be able to approach public transport points which take them to schools, hospitals, offices and shopping malls.

Vu Anh Tuan from Vietnamese-German Transportation Research Center also applauded the idea of TOD-based development, saying that TOD can restructure urban areas and public transport networks to create sustainable urban environments.

TOD model, if applied in HCM City, will help reduce the number of private vehicles and minimize adverse effects to the environment, such as traffic jams and pollution. TOD will create satellite urban areas, thereby helping decompress the urban space and the high population density in the central area of the city.

Ho Van