Urbanization and water management in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam-issues,challenges and perspectives

The management of water resources is an unfinished effort of the international community. Rapid urbanization has transcended the management capacity of governments in developing countries. Since the renovation policy launched in 1986, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has experienced the fastest urbanization and industrialization process. This has placed severe constraints on the use of water resources and management capacity of the local government. The abstraction of groundwater has exceeded the limiting volume (520,000 m³/day) and the annual drawdown of water table is 2–3 m. In addition, the quality of urban water bodies is increasingly exacerbated by a huge volume of untreated industrial and domestic wastewater. These are hampering water demand, use and the capacity of the municipal authority in managing water resources. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of urbanization on water resources. Current issues and challenges in the management practices of water resources are discussed. It will propose a new paradigm of water management in Ho Chi Minh City.     

Locational components of urban and regional public policy in postwar Vietnam: The case of Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)

Ho Chi Minh city is a primate city in which wartime dislocations have resulted in severely overcrowded conditions as well as a shrunken economic base. The new government has opted for a policy based on the rapid decanting of a large proportion of the urban population by encouraging internal migration to New Economic Zones in the hinterlands. This policy is based on a hierarchial administrative structure with agricultural productivity as its prime goal. A Green Belt policy has been articulated that uses the New Economic Zones as building blocks. The Green Belts constrain urban growth as well as provide foodstuff for the remaining urban residents. The ultimate objective of the overall policy is a balanced urban and regional environment that is in tune with Vietnam's agricultural economy.     

Locational components of urban and regional public policy in postwar Vietnam: The case of Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)

Ho Chi Minh city is a primate city in which wartime dislocations have resulted in severely overcrowded conditions as well as a shrunken economic base. The new government has opted for a policy based on the rapid decanting of a large proportion of the urban population by encouraging internal migration to New Economic Zones in the hinterlands. This policy is based on a hierarchial administrative structure with agricultural productivity as its prime goal. A Green Belt policy has been articulated that uses the New Economic Zones as building blocks. The Green Belts constrain urban growth as well as provide foodstuff for the remaining urban residents. The ultimate objective of the overall policy is a balanced urban and regional environment that is in tune with Vietnam's agricultural economy.     

Altered landscapes, altered livelihoods: The shifting experience of informal waste collecting during Hanoi’s urban transition

A growing body of literature is concerned with urbanization processes in contemporary Vietnam and how the country’s globalizing cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are increasingly becoming spaces of consumption. However, much less is known about how these changing spaces accommodate labour, and in turn support livelihoods. Using published empirical data on Hanoi’s informal waste collectors from 1992 [DiGregorio, M., 1994. Urban Harvest: Recycling as a Peasant Industry in Northern Vietnam. East–West Center, Hawaii, pp. 1–212] and my own data, including a survey of 575 waste collectors and 44 interviews, collected on Hanoi’s informal waste collectors in 2006, I explore the experiences of informal waste collectors (waste pickers and itinerant junk buyers) in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi. I argue that Vietnam’s globalizing economy and urban transition have been a catalyst for the growth of the informal waste collector population in Hanoi as well as a partial player in the gendering of this group and the work they undertake.     

Transnational companies as a source of skill upgrading: The electronics industry in Ho Chi Minh City

Employment and training in TNCs constitute a potential route through which FDI-led industrialization can contribute to national and regional development and economic growth. The article explores this link through the case of TNCs in the electronics industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The skill upgrading contribution of TNCs is related to the type of factories located in Vietnam and the role they play in regional production networks using a model combining the reverse product cycle and regional waves of FDI. Most electronics factories in Vietnam are ‘reproduction factories’ with mature technology and a narrow role in basic component manufacturing; it is shown that their contribution to skill upgrading is correspondingly narrow. Training for the majority of employees is very simple, and those who receive additional training do this especially in labour management, not in technical fields. Only a small group of engineers receive advanced technical training, in Vietnam and in the parent company abroad. The best prospects for increased skill upgrading are found in those companies that are more than reproduction factories for assembly; however, such companies are still few. The TNCs also represent a potential contribution to skill upgrading in local firms through supplier linkages and movement of staff, but when they operate in isolation from a local economy with little absorptive capacity, as in this case, this potential is not realized.     

Privatization of neighborhood governance in transition economy: a case study of gated community in Phu My Hung new town,Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam

Literature on common-interest development (CID) in housing, most common in the form of gated communities, has been based largely on the US’s experience, where the interpretation has centered on the interaction between three actors (local government, private developer, and homeowner association) and barely focused on the privatization of neighborhood governance in transition economies. This paper, through a case study of gated community in Phu My Hung new town shows that Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam—in the context of transition from centrally-planned to market-based economy—has been witnessing this privatized phenomenon of neighborhood governance. It employs both primary data, collected through observation and key informant interview, and secondary data to explain the contextual factors for the rise of gated communities in the city and find out the mechanism of neighborhood governance. In the city, housing privatization reforms, influx of foreign direct investment, and the formation of urban middle class have constituted the supply- and demand-side factors for the rise of gated communities. In addition, the reforms towards grassroots participation created a favorable environment for a privatization of neighborhood governance in which the private developer plays a dominant role in partnership with local government and homeowner association. To a certain extent, this privatization is similar to the case of US’s gated communities, however, it does not threaten the public authority and instead maintains a good collaboration between these three actors. This is an indigenous innovation of gated communities in Vietnam due to its socio-economic conditions and political context.     

Canal-side highway in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam – Issues of urban cultural conservation and tourism development

Since the city’s founding back in 1698 on the old Khmer city of Prei Nokor, rivers and canals have always been Ho Chi Minh City’s (HCMC’s) primary means of transportation. Despite the decline of the utilization of the city’s abundant waterways due to the increasing development of modern aerial services and more convenient roads, the HCMC’s canal-based urban form, with its water-based socio-economic structures that include port-boat-market activities and canal handcraft villages, still processes a rich cultural and religious diversity that dates back to the history of the city itself. Currently, developments in the city’s transportation systems are having a damaging impact on the canals’ cultural background. Rather than being recognized as a significant cultural asset that identifies the city, the canal system has been physically reorganized as the city’s drainage system and valued as only a supplementary landscape element; canal communities have been evicted, and canal built fabric has been removed due to recent canal-side transportation developments. To revitalize the urban cultural identity that is possessed by the canal system and to enrich it as a contemporary valuable layer in the city’s dynamic regional development, it is critical to implement cultural conservation and tourism in the development of canal-side transportation and supplementary projects in the canal vicinity.     

National territorial planning at the turn of the 21st century

In the early stages of economic development in Korea, national territorial planning was used as a policy tool to guide spatial structure and to provide physical infrastructure for urban and industrial development. Such a top-down approach was inevitable because Korea maintained the centralized political and government system until the early 1990s. Circumstances, however, have changed recently since the 1990s with progress in democratization and localization. In addition, forces of globalization are making significant impacts on the parameters of national territorial planning. Reflecting these changes in both internal and external conditions, the Fourth National Territorial Plan (2000–2020) has adopted a different approach from the past three territorial plans. This paper reviews the socio-economic background that necessitated such changes in approaches to national territorial planning. A major thrust of the Fourth Plan, a focus on emergent or anticipated planning issues in Korea, is discussed. Finally, the paper examines the rationale for long-term strategic planning in the highly fluctuating situation facing Korean society in the new century.     

Territories and identities in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is a city of many contrasts. It is a historical-symbolic city, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews. However, its citizens segregate ethno-nationally, culturally and socially, into different identity groups: Jews and Arabs, Haredi (`ultra-Orthodox') and secular Jews, and lower and upper class socio-economic groups. This essay focuses on how political and social struggles over territories reshape the nature of the identities of four distinct groups in Jerusalem. These are ethno-national groups (Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs), cultural groups (ultra-Orthodox Jews, in Hebrew Haredim (zealots), and non-Orthodox Jews), ethno-social groups (disadvantaged groups mainly of oriental descent, in Hebrew Mizrahim and advantaged groups) and economic and ecological groups (the business sector and inhabitants of private residential areas of the city). Thus, long-term historical processes have produced distinct ethno-national, cultural and social identity groups, which occupy specific territories within Jerusalem. The different groups have endowed their territory with dissimilar geopolitical, cultural, and economic meanings and played a major role in the reconstruction of national, cultural, social and ecological identities in the city. The city of Jerusalem is not only a spiritual centre associated with age-long dreams for peace and justice, it is also a violent city, rife with tensions and conflicts, a symbol of national, cultural, economic and ecological struggles. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing all those concerned about its future is whether Jerusalem's universal image of a spiritual, tolerant and just city can overcome its current, particularistic and conflict ridden image.     

Spread-F during the magnetic storm of 22 January 2004 at low latitudes: Effect of IMF-Bz in relation to local sunset time

The paper describes the results of spread-F at low latitude stations around the world during the magnetic storm starting at 0130 UT on 22 January 2004. The storm can be divided into two phases, first phase up to 1000 UT when interplanetary magnetic field IMF-Bz was highly fluctuating around a small positive value and the second phase after a sudden large southward turning of IMF-Bz at 1030 UT. The first phase produced strong spread-F at Jicamarca, Sao Luis, and Ascension Island and caused complete inhibition of spread-F at Thumba and Waltair in India. It generated weak spread-F at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and strong spread-F at Hainan and Chung Li. The strong spread-F at Hainan and Chung Li were caused by the positive IMF-Bz during the first phase of the storm and not by the negative pulse of IMF-Bz at 1000 UT.     

昭通市城市建设层适宜性综合研究及其未来发展方向的选择

昭通市未来城市建设层的适宜性和发展方向应该受自然环境、经济和社会因素 3个方面因素的控制 ,它们决定了城市建设层的功能的需求。通过影响昭通市建设层的自然环境状况、城市经济和社会发展现状和在建或将建的几个重大工程对城市建设发展的影响程度等几个方面 ,对昭通市城市建设层的适宜性进行了综合评价 ,划分了城市建设层的适宜区和功能区区划。文章认为 :(1)昭通市所处的地质、地理环境是相对脆弱的 ,资源开发和城市建设与地质、地理环境的优化已经具有很大的不协调性。 (2 )原来的昭通市城市发展规划中把未来城市发展定位为以褐煤资源开发为中心的发展模式存在很多弊端和经济风险。 (3)昭通市所处的社会经济发展现状表明本区经济结构正处于重大调整阶段。促使城市发展调整的动力 ,有经济发展的本身需求动力 ,也有外部机遇的刺激 (国家重大工程的实施 )。本区发展动力主要来源于后者。但是重大工程的实施 ,必将带来环境恶化等负面效应。文章综合研究认为 ,现阶段褐煤的大规模开发策略是不可取的 ,水利、交通等的发展才是首要选择。 (4 )昭通市将来的发展更可能是以高效农业为基础 ,利用其区域中心城市、物资集散地、交通枢纽的区位优势和廉价的劳动力 ,充分发展运输、资讯、商业、娱乐、休闲等服务     

A safer city centre for all? Senses of `community safety' in Newcastle upon Tyne

In recent years, many city authorities in Europe and North America have sought to attract people back to city centres for leisure, shopping, business and residence. The planning measures commonly adopted take explicit account of issues of crime and safety. The concept of `community safety' as applied to the city centre is problematic, however, as users have diverse lifestyles, interests and values which impact on their own and others' safety. This paper reports on a study of the experiences and perceptions of safety of different groups of city centre users in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While social identities and roles shaped the extent of concern and subsequent impacts on people's use of the city centre space, the research suggested that many concerns are genuinely shared. The paper investigates the congruence of a range of planning strategies with city centre users' safety concerns. Situational measures were viewed with scepticism, as fear centres on the presence and behaviour of others.     

发展战略、体制机制与国土空间规划

我国土地研究领域知名学者,原中国土地勘测规划院(现中国国土勘测规划院)院长、党委书记,曾担任中国土地学会副理事长的黄小虎研究员,应邀于2020年11月21日在清华大学土地利用与住房政策研究中心主办的“后疫情时代:国土空间规划与城乡高质量发展”论坛上作主题报告。他在发言中指出:传统规划体系存在多类型规划矛盾冲突的问题,多规合一为解决这一问题指明了方向、奠定了基础。十八大以后,中央对经济社会的发展战略、路线方针等陆续做出重大调整,国家发展内涵发生转变,要求突出发展质量,强调环境保护、农业农村优先。在体制机制上明确由新组建的自然资源部负责建立空间规划体系,其他部门不再编制涉及空间布局的规划,“多规合一”得到实现。国土空间规划的核心内容是国土利用和土地利用的功能分区,这也是用途管制的依据。     

Megacities – megarisks

We review the definitions, population trends, and characteristics of megacities. Characteristics of megacities are, apart from their size, their complexity in terms of administration, infrastructure, traffic, etc., and at the same time the speed of change. Vulnerabilities and risk potential are discussed using the examples of Mexico City and Mumbai. We present the experience accumulated in the 6 years work of the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI, ) with more than 20 large cities around the world, mostly located in the developing world. On this background we analyze obstacles that keep megacities from developing an efficient approach towards disaster mitigation and define a strategy that might overcome these problems. The key element of this strategy is the development of a Disaster Risk Management Master Plan (DRMMP) for cities. Currently the Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan (IEMP) serves as best example for an appropriate strategy for disaster reduction in megacities.     

Identifying ‘place’ in place branding: core and periphery in Brisbane’s “New World City”

Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city, and capital of the state of Queensland. It has a sprawling urban footprint and impending connections to neighbouring metropolises, said to create a ‘200 km city’. The governing body of Brisbane controls the largest municipality in Australia, with unrivalled opportunity to influence both urban planning and marketing for the CBD and suburbs. Brisbane is home to over one million people, and its population has grown rapidly over the past decades, doubling in the past 40 years. Brisbane represents the quintessential city with an emerging quest for urbanity, both in brand and physical form. The relationships between the city’s urban planning and its branding is not well examined, despite clear entanglement between these two strategies. We use a case-study analysis of both Brisbane City (which is glossed as the Central Business District) and an outer-suburban area, Inala, to interrogate how urban identities and brand are being constructed in relation to their social settings and governance, with particular reference to the importance of city branding and its relationship to planning strategies. The manifestation of branding and relationship to place qualities at the core and on the periphery of Brisbane are examined, with relevance for other rapidly growing, ambitious cities. The focus of Brisbane’s push for urbanity is on the city centre, and is not representative of the typical suburban condition, nor of many cities dominated by suburban forms. An analysis of place brand, planning strategies and resident’s responses to place, from planning, architectural and anthropological perspectives are offered, as an alternative reading of place brand from the marketing dominated approach usually favoured in branding analysis. We make recommendations to incorporate a more complete version of place in the construction of a “genuine” urbanity. We argue that the recognition of resident-centred place identity in place branding will produce more socially sustainable places, as well as more authentic city brands.     

Reconstruction in Moscow's historic centre: conservation, planning and finance strategies – the example of the Ostozhenka district

Reconstruction of the historic centre of Moscow and the construction of apartment blocks on the citys outskirts are the citys two main programmes within what must be regarded as its urban policy. With these priorities, the strategy of relying on a mixture of city and private investments, the city governments policies contribute to an increasing exclusiveness of the city centre. This process, which includes a process of gentrification, reflects the impact of the transition to a free-market economy. City planning and reconstruction projects are subject to the new, still chaotic, market opportunities and constraints while the soviet planning principles and organizations have not yet been replaced by efficient new ones. There is a lack of control and regulation, as well as a concentration of power in the mayoral cabinet on the one hand, but on the other hand, the finance strategies make large-scale regeneration possible. With entering the global economy, post-soviet Moscow is acquiring more traits of western, capitalist cities. These include marketing the centres historic character, subsidising private investment, and a new residential segregation based on capital.     

Territorial exclusion and violence: the case of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

If we had to point out one single feature to define Brazilian cities today, it would be the existence of a dual built environment: a landscape produced by private entrepreneurs and contained within the framework of detailed urban legislation, and another one, three times greater, self-produced by the poor and eternally situated in an intermediate zone between the legal and the illegal. In addition to being an expression of economic and social disparities, this contrast has profound implications on the form and functioning of the cities. The sprawl of the precarious peripheries has lead to an absurd disconnection of poorly urbanized spaces and the city center where jobs, cultural and economic opportunities are concentrated. The effects of this persistent territorial exclusion are devastating and occur in both the peripheries and the city center. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nexus between the precarious and risky urbanization which took place in Brazilian cities and the urban violence that seems to be the most recent and visible face of this model, using the concrete example of different cities in the state of São Paulo. In order to construct the links it is first important to understand how patterns of economic development and population trends have contributed to the generation of risk urbanization and how planning and urban management policies interact with it.     

Milan: The city of constant renewal

Traditional models of urban development are no longer adequate to describe current metropolitan transformations. These are now at the centre of a debate concerning management and administration. In Italy, delays in resolving problems of urban and metropolitan government, despite the legal framework provided by Law 142/90, have weighed heavily on the larger urban areas of the country: Rome, Naples, Milan, which have not been able to tackle the issue of metropolitan government. Recent legislation, while not providing a pre-defined institutional solution, allows separate administrative districts to collectively establish metropolitan institutions of `variable geometry'. The Milan urban area is not one city, but a system of mutually-dependent cities, linked to each other and the rest of the world by a transport network still requiring much investment. The vitality of its economic structure (especially its small firms) is held back by seriously inadequate infrastructure and low external economic efficiency. The provincial capital may boast `historic centrality' but the most interesting potential for development is to be found on the periphery and in the administrative districts immediately surrounding it, in the recovery of derelict industrial areas and dormitory towns established in the 1950s and 1960s, especially to the north. Recovery of derelict areas, green areas, and better transport links within the urban area and with the outside world are the key elements in the reorganization of `Greater Milan'. In this situation of rapid transformation the most appropriate political strategies involve negotiated planning. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Neighbourhoods and the implementation of city plans

This article addresses the alternatives posed by urban decentralization as a new institutional framework within which change in city planning goals and administrative practices can take place. Considering that, traditionally, the professions of city planning and public administration have been haunted by a low level of implementation of plans and a high level of dissatisfaction with public-service delivery, the attempt is made to identify the root causes of the two shortcomings. In the process, the thesis is sustained that neighbourhoods endowed with formal decision-making powers have the potential to increase the degree of implementation of plans and to ensure greater efficiency in, and satisfaction with, the delivery of public services. A case study provides a data base to illustrate a number of working hypotheses.