NA Standing Committee agrees to establish centrally-run Hue city

At a Politburo meeting held earlier this month, General Secretary and President To Lam stressed that the formation of centrally-run Hue city holds political significance as it would create momentum for Thua Thien-Hue province to grow further.

Currently, Thua Thien-Hue covers an area of over 4,947 square kilometers with a population exceeding 1.2 million.

It comprises nine district-level administrative units (Hue City, Huong Thuy and Huong Tra towns, and six districts: Nam Dong, Phu Loc, Phu Vang, A Luoi, Quang Dien, and Phong Dien) and 141 communal-level units (95 communes, 39 wards, and seven towns).

Last February, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed a decision approving a plan to turn Thua Thien-Hue into a centrally run city by 2025 and a typical heritage city of Viet Nam by 2030.

To realize the goal, Thua Thien-Hue will develop synchronous and modern infrastructure, especially in the fields of transportation, smart urban areas, and natural disaster prevention.

The province will promote its potential and strategic location-the gateway to the East-West economic corridor with unique culture and history, focusing on tangible and intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO while tapping diverse natural resources of the Huong River, Ngu Mountain, and Tam Giang-Cau Hai Lagoon.

Thua Thien-Hue has identified breakthrough stages including developing a heritage urban system combining modern, smart urban areas on the basis of preserving and promoting heritage values. The city will also take advantage of coastal urban areas and implement high economic competitiveness, and adaptation to climate change.

Another focus is building Thua Thien-Hue into a strong marine economic center in the country, accelerating the growth of processing, manufacturing and electricity production industries from green energy sources. The province also prioritizes attracting large high-tech projects with high value-added potential.

According to the plan, Thua Thien-Hue will have three urban centers, including the city of Hue, the northwest region and the southeast region. In particular, the city of Hue is divided into the northern and southern districts on either side of the Huong River.

The urban area in the northwest includes Phong Dien town, Quang Dien and A Luoi districts, of which Phong Dien serves as a central urban area associated with Dien Loc Port and Phong Dien Industrial Park. Industrial urban development is the driving force in the north of the province, and a gateway to Quang Tri, Quang Binh provinces and countries in the Mekong sub-region.

The southeast urban area comprises Phu Vang district, Phu Loc district, Nam Dong district, developing Chan May area into a tier-3 urban area-a smart, modern city associated with Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone.

The province will focus on three growth drivers, namely the Complex of Hue Monuments, the Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone and the Phong Dien Industrial Park.

According to the master plan for urban and rural areas in the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, among the current five centrally-run cities of Viet Nam, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City are planned to become special urban areas by 2030 while Hai Phong, Can Tho and Da Nang are national grade I cities.

Thua Thien-Hue along with other seven provinces namely Khanh Hoa, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Hai Duong and Binh Duong, are oriented to become centrally-run cities by the end of this decade./.