HANOI: The master plan for HCM City calls for construction of high-rises on 930 hectares of land along the Sai Gon River.Public space along with a park will be created on this stretch of land along with high-rise complexes.
The area extends from the Sai Gon Bridge in Binh Thanh District to District 4 and the Tan Thuan Bridge in District 7. Tan Cang and Ba Son ports and other ports along the Sai Gon River will be moved to the city outskirts to make way for high-rise buildings. An 81-floor building, the tallest in the country, will be built in Tan Cang port, next to Dien Bien Phu street and the Sai Gon bridge.
Many other buildings in the area have been approved at a height of 80 to 150m.
The master plan calls for lowest buildings to be built next to the river, at about 6m.In Ba Son port, the buildings will be around 180 -220m high.
“HCM City has a very low proportion of green trees per resident, around 2sq.m, far from the international average of 10-15sq.m per person. So the city should create park and green space,” Nguyen Dang Son, deputy head of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute, was quoted as saying in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The city’s master plan in 2010 called for parks built along rivers, including the Sai Gon, Dong Nai and Nha Be rivers.
“However, the price for land along the rivers is very high and planners will hesitate to use land for parks and green spaces. But the local authority must ensure that this be done,” he said.
The master plan for the new urban area of Thu Thiem, a park next to the Sai Gon River, will be located on nine hectares and will be two kilometres long.
The public park will function as a green lung not only for the Thu Thiem urban area but also for all of HCM City.
A wetlands area south of Thu Thiem urban area will be preserved, and only a very low density of new construction will be allowed.
