The Ministry of Construction has just sent a summary report on law enforcement related to the draft Law on Urban Development Management to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal.
According to the report, by the end of September, the country had 902 urban areas, including 2 special urban areas (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City), 22 type I urban areas, 36 type II urban areas, 45 type III urban areas, 94 type IV urban areas, and 703 type V urban areas. The urbanization rate of the whole country reached about 42.6% (in 2015 it was 35.7%).
The quality of life in urban areas has been gradually improved. The average housing area per capita nationwide reached 23.2m2/person, in urban areas it reached 24.5m2/person, and in rural areas it reached 22.5m2/person.
The entire unit 1 of building A of Ngoc Khanh collective housing complex (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) has seriously degraded, belonging to level D danger group (Photo: Manh Quan).
Apartment renovation: Sluggish
Renovating old apartments is an important issue in the process of urban renovation and reconstruction in centrally-run cities, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
However, the report of the Ministry of Construction shows a startling figure: Renovation of old apartment buildings is only completed at 1.14% of the total number of old apartment buildings in Hanoi and 1% in Ho Chi Minh City.
In Hanoi, in 2020, statistics showed that there were 1,579 old apartment buildings, most of which were built between 1960 and 1992.
"Over the past 20 years, only about 1.14% of the total of more than 1,500 old apartment buildings and old collective housing areas that have been repaired, renovated, or renewed have been renovated. The area of most old apartments is from 30-50 m2/apartment; in particular, at Van Chuong Collective Housing Area (Dong Da District), about 70% of the apartments have an area of less than 30 m2," the Ministry of Construction informed.
Most of them have been self-expanded and repaired to "live temporarily", which is quite dangerous and negatively affects the urban beauty. Over time, due to lack of regular maintenance, the urban infrastructure system has been damaged, leading to many old apartment buildings being seriously degraded; some are severely damaged, posing a danger to the structure.
"The slow implementation of urban renovation and beautification accelerates the degradation of urban infrastructure and environmental pollution; fails to meet the legitimate needs of people in responding to the impacts of climate change, high tides, and urban flooding; fails to ensure the safety of urban residential areas when incidents such as fire, explosion, poisoning, and epidemics occur; causes the disappearance of urban cultural characteristics associated with typical settlement areas; fails to improve the urban architectural landscape and reduces the competitiveness of the city," the report of the Ministry of Construction stated.
Of the 401 old apartment buildings inspected, 80 are at level D (the most dangerous level), but Hanoi has only implemented 32 old apartment renovation projects, with 18 projects completed.
In Ho Chi Minh City, according to statistics from the Ministry of Construction, since the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee launched the urban beautification and renovation program for old apartments in 2016, only 2 old apartments have been renovated or newly built out of 237 apartments according to the plan.
In addition, there are 3 apartment buildings under construction with a scale of about 260,000m2 of floor space with more than 2,000 apartments.
Serious environmental pollution, everywhere
The Ministry of Construction reported that most urban areas still do not have separate drainage systems, and rainwater and wastewater flow through the same system. The rate of wastewater treatment meeting standards and regulations before being discharged into the environment is about 17%. A few urban areas have quite high rates, such as Lao Cai City with 40%, Sapa Town with 50%, Dong Ha City (Quang Tri) with 40.9%, and Thu Dau Mot City (Binh Duong) with about 33.3%.
Most of the remaining urban wastewater is not treated because there has not been investment in building treatment plants.
"Currently, surface water in rivers, lakes, canals, and inner-city ditches is mostly polluted due to receiving waste from urban development activities. Their self-cleaning ability is low, and many lakes have become places to store wastewater from surrounding areas," the Ministry of Construction stated.
In many cities, lakes have become places to store wastewater, and the water has no circulation. Lake water pollution occurs not only in large cities (special type, type I) but also in smaller cities (level II, level III).
For many years, To Lich River, Hanoi has been in a state of "black water" and foul smell, significantly affecting the lives of people in the capital (Photo: Nguyen Hai).
Despite efforts to improve through renovation projects, the Ministry of Construction affirms that surface water pollution in these areas is still a prominent problem in most urban areas. Encroachment on riverbeds and canals occurs everywhere, causing the water surface area to narrow and obstructing the flow.
In two special urban areas, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the level of organic and nutrient pollution has occurred for many years and has not improved much, typically in some rivers and canals such as To Lich River, Lu River, Set River (Hanoi) and Tan Hoa - Lo Gom Canal, Ba Bo Canal, Tham Luong Canal (Ho Chi Minh City).
In smaller urban areas, the water quality of inner-city rivers and canals has also declined, with the content of nutrients and organic matter exceeding Vietnamese standards. Locally, in some rivers, the pollution level has reached a quite serious level, such as Phu Loc River (Da Nang), Bac Hung Hai River (Hai Duong), Nha Le River (Thanh Hoa City), Ben Dinh Canal (Vung Tau City)...
Many canals and river sections have been renovated and the pollution level has decreased, but recently, the pollution level has tended to increase again. In some areas, water pollution still occurs for a long time, typically Bac Hung Hai River; Nhue - Day River, especially the border area between Hanoi and Ha Nam province and the river sections flowing through Hanoi's inner city; Chau Giang River (Luong market area, Yen Bac commune, Duy Tien, Ha Nam); Dong Nai river basin...
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