Seminar on Sustainable Planning and Development of Urban Areas
The Central Economic Commission (CEC) of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Ministry of Construction in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), have jointly organized the first seminar amongst its series on urban resilience at national level. This seminar is organized under the framework of WARM Facility funded by the European Union to improve Vietnam’s resilience to water-related hazards, through more resilient cities and territories to climate change and natural hazards.
The seminar creates a forum to exchange views on how to support Vietnam to achieve its objectives of (i) building resilient cities and provinces, and (ii) reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the environment.
After 35 years of development, the urban planning in Vietnam has reached remarkable results, with urban growth at a high rate (40% in 2022/30.5% in 2010), contributing to about 70% of the country’s GDP, steadily improving the well-being of people in urban areas. However, the process of urbanization still occurs many limitations: rapid growth without a global vision, urban infrastructures asynchronously constructed with socio development and environmental protection, waste of land and natural/human resources, lack of management capacity. A unified strategic urban planning is consequently required to harmonize the above-mentioned issues moving forward to climate-resilient green growth and the net zero emission target by 2050.
Opening the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien, Deputy Head of the Central Economic Commission emphasized, "Regarding the urban development, the Resolution 06 determines the strategic orientation of a sustainable urban system in its global network, in line with allocated resources and local context of each region in Vietnam. It aims to ensure the harmonisation amongst regions and develop urban centralisation with a reasonable level of demographic development. These smart cities that are interconnected shall be in compliance with the green cities’ criteria and resilient to climate change and natural hasards. The Resolution 06 focuses also on the etablisement and implementation of projects and programs at national level on urban development in Vietnam in response to climate change.”
“One of the main tasks of the construction industry for the next coming years is to efficiently implement the Resolution n°148/NQ-CP. This resolution is expected to make an important change in quantity and quality of urban planning. Having a permanent role in international cooperation in the field of urban development, the Ministry of Construction actively participates in activities at international level, including with France and other countries of the European Union. This seminar is one example of such international cooperation”, said by Mr Nguyen Tuong Van, Vice–Minister of Construction.
Speaking at the seminar, EU Ambassador to Vietnam Giorgio Aliberti emphasized: “The European Union remains strongly committed to support the Government of Vietnam in achieving sustainable development path: that's why we have created the WARM facility, financing the preparation and implementation of strategic infrastructure investment projects to enhance Vietnam’s capacities in adapting to climate change. The experience gained from these projects feeds into Europe's sectoral policy dialogue with the Vietnamese government”.
Building upon the 20-year long history of cooperation between Lyon and Ho-Chi-Minh-City in urban planning and management, the experts from Lyon (France) have brought in experiences who have successfully paved the way towards a resilient urban development for Lyon. "France stands ready to ramp up its support to the Vietnamese authorities in their actions against climate change, be it through attenuation or adaptation. Climate change is a challenge that we are all facing, and that is why I believe the experience provided by the experts from Lyon can contribute to shed a new light on the climate change adaptation strategies for the cities and provinces in Vietnam”, said Nicolas WARNERY, Ambassador of France to Vietnam.
The seminar gathers many speakers from central and local authorities in charge of urban development and experiences sharing by experts from the French Authority of Lyon Metropolitan Area, France on using French tool for dialogue and negotiation between local public authorities and private operators in urban development operations.
Contact person:
DO Viet Ha, Communication Officer, WARM Facility, at co.warmfacility@gmail.com
PREAULT Mathilde, Program Officer, AFD Vietnam, at preaultm@afd.fr
Background Information
The seminar familiarizes the participants with the Resolution n°6 issued on 24 January 2022 by the Politburo on sustainable planning, construction, management and development of Vietnamese urban areas until 2030, and the Resolution n°148/NQ-CP issuing the government’s action program implementing the Resolution n°6.
Resolution n°6 identified an ambitious framework for sustainable and resilient development. It aims to achieve the rapid growth of cities/provinces, which has been one of the main drivers of Vietnam's economic growth since the 1990s, to reduce people's vulnerability to climate change and natural hazards, and to improve the living space for people in urban areas.
Being located at the confluence site of the Rhône and the Saône rivers, Lyon, similar to many Vietnamese cities, is facing nowadays to high risk of flooding due to its geographical conditions. Lyon has applied concrete solutions to reduce its vulnerability to environmental hazards and strengthen its climate resilience.
This one-day session focuses on how to shift from centralized to strategic planning, identify an appropriate scale of governance and planning, and control of rural to urban land conversion, and the preservation of natural resources. The seminar facilitates sharing experience of French tools for dialogue and negotiation between local public authorities and private operators in urban development operations.
The first seminar in Hanoi will be followed afterward by three half-days workshops in Son La, Quang Tri and Hau Giang, on natural and climatic risks faced by people in mountainous, coastal and Mekong Delta regions.
About WARM Facility
The Water and Natural Resources Management (WARM) Facility, a grant of 20 million euros delegated by the European Union to the AFD to support the preparation and implementation of strategic investment projects in the areas of water and natural resources management in response to key local challenges of climate change. WARM Facility contributes to the implementation of the European Union's #GlobalGateway strategy.
About the European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European countries. It acts globally to promote sustainable development of societies, environment and economies, so that everyone can benefit.
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/vietnam_en
About AFD (Agence Française de Développement)
AFD is a public financial institution that finances, supports and accelerates transitions towards a more sustainable world. AFD has financed in Vietnam over 90 projects since 1994 for a total of almost 2.1 billion euros in different sectors: transport, infrastructure, energy and agriculture. In line with the priorities of French cooperation in Vietnam, AFD is positioning its operations to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement. https://www.afd.fr/