The “key” to urban development
Due to the special nature of the heritage city, since December 2015, the province has had a policy for Hoi An to choose foreign consultants to carry out the planning.
After a long delay due to some problems, in 2021, the National Institute of Architecture (Ministry of Construction) and AREP Villa Company (France) were selected as consultants to develop this project.
According to the latest draft of the consulting consortium, Hoi An will be developed according to the motto "preserve to develop, develop to preserve" with the nature of an ecological - cultural - tourist city.
The plan proposes development strategies that are consistent with conservation as the leading factor, combining the development of heritage ecosystem connections, creating new values to help improve and preserve the diversity of existing urban values to create the typical "garden in the city - city in the garden" structure of Hoi An.
The pillars of Hoi An’s urban development strategy include: an ecosystem development strategy to preserve Hoi An’s unique, diverse and dynamic water surface; a cultural development strategy to promote Hoi An as a city of living heritage; and a tourism development strategy to improve overcrowding and develop more sustainably.
The draft project to adjust the general planning of Hoi An city to 2035, with a vision to 2050, divides the city into 7 sub-zones: historical heritage urban area; island urban area associated with cultural - service center; new urban and rural development area; island ecological residential area; sea gateway urban service area; urban area associated with river landscape; residential area associated with biosphere conservation.
The general planning of Hoi An city will direct urban development to the west (Thanh Ha ward, Cam Ha commune), develop new urban clusters and infrastructure systems along the main regional traffic axis and promote mixed urban development in the true sense of a "livable" city for residents.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee said: "While waiting for the project to be approved, Hoi An is gradually implementing this orientation by preserving the maximum landscape, preserving the maximum prime land fund to establish parks and green spaces.
The relevant parties are urgently carrying out the remaining steps, because in the past, the city's general planning had not been approved, so no investment projects could be made in the area and it was also very difficult to call for investment.
Preserve unique values
The story of preserving the value of the ancient urban area and the goal of upgrading to a type II urban area have been incompatible propositions for a long time. A type II urban area according to specific criteria is a suitable destination to preserve the typical values of Hoi An.
Therefore, the consulting consortium has proposed a scenario of population size in 2035 with 160 thousand people and in 2050 with 230 thousand people (including converted population), lower than the previously approved task to ensure reducing pressure on this urban area. In 2022, Hoi An's population will reach more than 100 thousand people (excluding converted population).
According to Le Tri Thanh, member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, the population target proposed by the consultant is appropriate, because if the population growth target of Hoi An is pushed up while the natural population growth rate is currently quite low, it will lead to a large mechanical increase, which does not ensure the sustainable development of Hoi An. Some infrastructure targets to meet the criteria of a type II urban area in Hoi An only need to be asymptotic, not necessarily completely similar.
Mr. Tran Anh - Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Hoi An City said: "Currently, there are many type II urban areas nationwide, but a living heritage urban area like Hoi An can be said to be unique.
Hoi An is aware of what is more important to aim for in this project. In addition, the population density in the 9 inner-city wards of Hoi An is already very high (more than 2,800 people/km²). If the population continues to grow strongly, it will easily become a compact urban area.
Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Luong Nguyen Minh Triet said that the planning of Hoi An needs to be urgently completed in a direction that resolves the opposing aspects: between growth and traffic pressure and access to tourism products; between the lives of local people and tourists and people from other places; between preserving values and economic development; between population size and infrastructure needs.
“We need to pay close attention to updating solutions to respond to climate change because Hoi An is a vulnerable city. In the future, tourism will still be Hoi An’s pillar, but we also need to research and open up new driving forces to better balance the risks.
The planning to limit construction to 9 floors in the western urban development area is reasonable and it is necessary to proactively develop planning management regulations and architectural management regulations to comply with the planning to the maximum extent and limit future adjustments" - Provincial Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet said.
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