There are experts who say that Thu Thiem in the future will become a "beautiful girl" and of course, to make that come true, many things need to be done.
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Having lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City for 9 years, the East bank of the Saigon River is a familiar New Year's destination for Ms. Nguyen Bich Phuong (27 years old, accountant, from Binh Thuan).
Thu Thiem Peninsula is embraced by the Saigon River and possesses great development potential. Photo: Chi Hung.
"This is also a place where many young people come to on weekends. It is rare to find a place that is close to the river and has three sides overlooking the old city so close." In Ms. Phuong's words, "old city" refers to the center of Saigon.
In Phuong’s memory, the road from the Saigon River Tunnel to the foot of Ba Son Bridge used to be very dark and shabby. Pedestrians would often turn around and go back when they reached this section.
But that was a thing of the past. At the end of 2023, the East bank of Thu Thiem stretching along the Saigon River was busily renovated, creating a riverside park for people to celebrate Tet.
While waiting for the central square project to be built, there will be a walking path, sunflower fields, a series of floating aquatic rafts, fountains, etc.
Residents will not have to struggle to find a place to watch the city or fireworks. After the renovation, the East bank of Thu Thiem will have spaces dedicated to community activities, toilets, parking lots, etc. with large capacity.
The most luxurious urban area
About 300m from the existing center across a river, the East bank of Thu Thiem has undergone many planning changes.
By 1996, the Prime Minister approved the 1/5,000 construction plan for Thu Thiem urban area, with a total area of 930 hectares, including a new urban area (770 hectares) and a resettlement area (160 hectares).
The east bank of the Saigon River before it was renovated. Photo: Chi Hung.
Nearly 3 decades of formation, Thu Thiem has transformed from a deserted land into the new center of Thu Duc City. Not only that, this place is also a financial and commercial center with high-end services and infrastructure projects, the most luxurious urban residential area in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Dr. Huynh Thanh Dien (economic expert), Thu Thiem is one of the rare urban areas that was oriented to develop in a compact form right from the beginning.
"However, due to the compressed nature, land for infrastructure must be large, leading to high housing land prices. In the future, Thu Thiem land prices will not be lower than those of major cities in the world," said Dr. Huynh Thanh Dien.
On the other hand, Dr. Dien assessed that if in the past, foreign experts when coming to Ho Chi Minh City often chose to stay in District 1, with a well-planned area like the current Thu Thiem new urban area, this will be their new choice.
Grasping this vision early on, the city government has continuously focused on investing in infrastructure for Thu Thiem over the past many years.
Prominent among them are the main arterial roads, backbones, with large traffic functions such as Mai Chi Tho Avenue, circular roads, Thu Thiem Bridge, Ba Son Bridge, and Saigon River Tunnel.
The shape of the new urban area Thu Thiem is also depicted with many urban areas and high-rise buildings such as: Sala urban area, Binh Khanh resettlement area and a number of high-class, luxury apartment projects.
In particular, 2023 is also the period when Ho Chi Minh City pays much attention to completing cultural works, serving tourism and the community.
In December 2023, the city officially received full funding for the construction of a pedestrian bridge connecting the central opposite bank with the new urban area of Thu Thiem, worth more than 1,000 billion VND.
This is one of five bridges and a tunnel across the Saigon River planned to connect Thu Thiem with the surrounding area.
At the same time, the City Department of Transport also submitted to the City People's Committee the results of the pre-feasibility study of the Thu Thiem 4 bridge project across the Saigon River, connecting the Thu Thiem urban area with the South of the city. The project has a total investment of more than 6,000 billion VND.
Need investors of sufficient stature
However, experts say that the development of Thu Thiem still needs more time. For nearly 30 years, Thu Thiem has had its basic shape but there are still many things that have not been done.
Dr. Vo Kim Cuong, former Deputy Chief Architect of Ho Chi Minh City, believes that Thu Thiem needs more time to become a “beautiful girl” with an admirable appearance in the future. Photo: Thu Tran.
According to Dr. Architect Vo Kim Cuong, former Deputy Chief Architect of Ho Chi Minh City, to compare with a similar urban area in the world, it is Shanghai Pudong (China).
Ho Chi Minh City has the Saigon River. Shanghai also has the Huangpu River. Thu Thiem is opposite the center of District 1 and District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City; on the Shanghai side are the long-established historical concessions.
However, from the time of determining to clear the area, clear the land for planning, to construction, it only took 15 years for Pudong to take shape with financial economic zones and high-rise buildings.
As for Thu Thiem, after nearly 30 years, only a few main roads have been completed, internal roads have only been partially completed, and some buildings have just had their roofs raised… the shape of a financial and commercial center as expected is still unclear.
"Thu Thiem will become a beautiful girl in the future, with an admirable figure. But right now, this girl is not mature enough and still needs more time," expert Vo Kim Cuong likened.
For Thu Thiem to break through and complete the missing pieces, he believes that this new urban area needs truly strong investors.
In addition, the city also needs more solutions to promote the recovery of the real estate market and economic sectors. When the market recovers, Thu Thiem will naturally have a way out.
Looking back at the formation process of Thu Thiem, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai also acknowledged that the Thu Thiem new urban area project was very correct in policy, but the implementation process was prolonged and legal changes led to it being stuck.
The early completion of the Thu Thiem new urban area is also assessed by Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen as creating momentum to promote Ho Chi Minh City's development.
At the 24th expanded conference of the 11th Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Executive Committee in November 2023, Secretary Nguyen Van Nen requested agencies to promptly propose solutions to remove obstacles and speed up project implementation.
With the opportunities opened up by Resolution 98, Mr. Nen especially noted that units should delve deeper into and research specific policies to mobilize and promote resources to complete the Thu Thiem new urban area according to the proposed policy.
Dr. Tran Du Lich, a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Group, also said that building a financial center in Thu Thiem will require not only the efforts of Ho Chi Minh City but also the entire country. In the future, Thu Thiem will be a growth pole for the whole country and will also become a place to mobilize capital for the entire economy.
Thu Thiem new urban area is located on the East bank of the Saigon River opposite District 1, with a total area of 657 hectares. Thu Thiem is planned with the main functions of being the financial, commercial, and high-class service center of the city and region, and has an international position, as a cultural and entertainment center.
According to the 1/2,000 planning, the new urban area is divided into 5 main areas including: Central core area, residential areas in the North, along Mai Chi Tho Avenue, the East and the Southern Delta.
According to the 1/2,000 scale plan approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in 2005, this will be the new central location of Ho Chi Minh City with buildings from 10 to over 30 floors. More than half of the urban area will be reserved for trees and traffic.
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