Lack of green space in big cities in Vietnam
The ratio of trees per person in urban areas of Vietnam is between 2 and 3 m2/person, meaning urban greenery in Vietnam is only 1/5 to 1/10 of the world.
The current situation of green space in big cities
According to the Department of Technical Infrastructure, currently the ratio of trees per person in urban areas of Vietnam is from 2 to 3 m2/person, while the minimum green target of the United Nations is 10 m2 and the goal of modern cities in the world is from 20 to 25 m2, which means that the urban greenery of Vietnam is only 1/5 to 1/10 of the world.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the most developed urban area in the country, the green tree quota is still lacking. According to the national standard TCVN 9257:2012 planning green trees for public use in urban areas, design standards, the density of public trees for special urban areas such as cities is 15 m2/person. However, the current density of public trees per capita in this particular urban area is much lower, less than 1m2/person. The city needs to plan and invest in building green belts around the city, in the context of the land fund for green space development in central urban areas such as Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 10. Therefore, it is necessary to develop green areas in new urban areas and urban fringes to decorate instead of concreted works. In addition, the total area of land for planning green parks in the planning projects of Ho Chi Minh City is currently more than 11,400 hectares, corresponding to the target of 7 m2/person, while in fact the total existing park area is only about 500 ha, equivalent to 0.55 m2/person.
Currently, the ratio of trees per capita in the inner city of Hanoi is less than 2 m2. According to the Hanoi Capital Construction Master Plan to 2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister, the average rate of green trees is only 10-15 m2/person (the standard set by the United Nations is 39 m2/person). Hanoi has about 70 flower gardens and parks, of which there are dozens of abandoned ones, and the public green space accounts for less than 2% of the total land fund. Some large parks such as Thu Le, Thong Nhat, Indira Gandhi, Tuoi Tre have not received much investment and regular repairing services, hence becoming less attractive for the locals. Rapid urbanisation and mechanical population growth make Hanoi increasingly dense. With 8.5 million people and each year the city mechanically increases the population by about 200,000 people, green areas are facing threats in decreasing in both quality and size.
Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BXD of the Ministry of Construction on national technical regulations on construction planning stipulates that, for urban centers of grade I, the area of green land for public use in urban centers must reach minimum 6 m2/person. Bien Hoa city is a grade I city directly under the province with the largest population in the country, with more than 1.15 million people. However, according to the People's Committee of Bien Hoa city, the area of concentrated green trees per capita in the city is currently just over 1 m2/person. Therefore, in order to meet the new development situation, Bien Hoa city is focusing on completing the task of planning to adjust the city's general plan to 2030, with a vision to 2050 as the basis for making adjustment plans of the city.
Da Nang is currently considered an urban area with a serious lack of green space, with only 2 parks. According to the report of the Department of Construction of Da Nang City, in 2010, the urban green area of the city was just over 5 m2/person. In 2015, this figure was 7.32 m2/person. In 2019, Da Nang had more than 1.134 million people, but the green tree index is only 7.51 m2/person. According to the adjustment project of the general planning of Da Nang city to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the green land for urban public use is 8.9 m2/person.
Green space development
According to the capital construction master plan approved by the Prime Minister in 2011 in Decision No. 1259, Hanoi has the vision to develop according to a satellite urban model, including a central urban area associated with 5 satellite cities, namely Soc Son, Son Tay, Hoa Lac, Xuan Mai, Phu Xuyen. With an area of over 3,300km2, but only 30% is planned for urban construction, the remaining 70% is a network of trees and green corridors, the whole corridor runs around the rivers surrounding Hanoi. With this structure, Hanoi has enough conditions for urban development to balance between conservation of existing natural resources and modern urban development. The general planning on construction of Hanoi capital up to 2030, with a vision to 2050, requires solutions to encourage the development of eco-tourism, the development of high-tech agricultural production, and the preservation of natural and landscape conservation areas, at the same time, it is strictly forbidden to develop urban areas, build large-scale works that disrupt the natural landscape.
In Ho Chi Minh city, according to the Program to develop public parks and trees in the period of 2021 - 2025, Ho Chi Minh City aims to increase at least 150 hectares of parkland and 10 hectares of public green space, equivalent to plant 10 million new trees of all kinds (an increase of the proportion of forested land to 16% by 2025 and 16.24% by 2030). Ho Chi Minh City also strives that by 2030, green park land will reach 1m²/person, an increase of 450ha compared to 2020.
Along with the implementation of synchronous tree planting, it is recommended to start the formation of typical routes in terms of landscape and green space, to gradually improve the quality of landscape and environment for urban areas and cities, and to associate urban green design with urban green space. The green space system is closely and synchronously linked with the traffic infrastructure system, urban technical infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban underground space, and the city is also developing a plan to renovate the existing green system.
Source: the Internet