Vietnam’s green cities project gets US$224m boost

The money will be borrowed from the Asian Development Bank.
The project will be carried out over five years in three secondary cities, including Ha Giang in the northern province of Ha Giang, Vinh Yen in the northern province of Vinh Phuc and Hue in the central province of Thua Thien.
Focusing on urban services, flood protection, urban sewerage, and urban solid-waste management, the project aims to improve and expand traffic systems and infrastructure, promote socio-economic development and tourism and increase people’s incomes.
It will also help cut pollution by improving drainage systems, waste treatment and environment sanitation.
The project is part of effort of cities around Asia and the Pacific that are identifying ways of making their environment healthier and more liveable through the improvement of air, water and land.
Vietnam is rapidly urbanising with a structural shift from agriculture to industry and services. Its challenge is to maintain its development prospects by minimising risks associated with urbanisation, according to Vietnam Economic Times.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Vietnamese Construction Ministry last year signed an agreement on a technical-assistance project for establishing Vietnam’s Green City Master Plan.
Accordingly, it helps Vietnam to develop a set of green-city indices and a Green City Planning Decision Support System and recommends a legal framework for green-city planning to the Construction Ministry.
To become a green city, some standards need to be met, such as the presence of green space, green constructions, green transport and green industry, besides some other criteria, architect Le Thi Bich Thuan said on baoxaydung.com.vn.
Some global cities have become green cities, such as Curitiba in Brazil, Sweden’s Stockholm, Freiburg in Germany, and Singapore.