Saigon South Eases Overcrowding

The new Saigon South urban area in District 7, in Southern HCM City, is undergoing intensive construction to ease overcrowding in the inner city.

Skidmore, Owings and Merril, a US urban design and architecture firm, conducted the urban planning of Saigon South. The project has won an honor award from the US architecture institute.

The Phu My Hung Corporation has built Saigon South, covering 3,300ha, about 4km from the central part of District 1. The company is a joint venture between Taiwan's Central Trading and Development Group and Vietnam's Tan Thuan Industrial Development Company.

In March 1998, the Saigon South Parkway opened to traffic, contributing to the development of the new Saigon South urban area. The parkway, also called the "Nha Be North - Binh Chanh South" route will be ready by the year 2000.

The 17.8km Saigon South Parkway, with 10 lanes, will become vital for the industrial triangle including Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park, the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone and the new Saigon South urban area. It will also connect Highway 1 with the port system along the Saigon River.

Taking advantage of transport conditions, the Saigon South urban area has so far attracted 18 projects with total capital of US$60 million. Of the total area, 750ha will comprise five urban centers with major projects including a university village, new center urban area, high-tech industrial park, apartment high rise building, residential complex, amusement park and tourist site. Last year, three schools in the Saigon South area opened for students including the Japanese School, the Saigon South International School and Saigon South People Funded School.

By mid-1998, a 12-storey building with investment capital of 6 million wholly invested by Hong Kong's Feel Nice Co. Ltd will be ready in the new urban area. The 675MW Hiep Phuoc power plant will provide electricity for the entire area including the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park and saigon South itself.

Planners are installing a pipeline running from Thu Duc Water Plant to provide water for the new residents. A water plant built under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) form should be ready by 2000, capable of supplying water for the entire area.

Of the 18 foreign-invested projects, seven will focus on building apartments, offices, villas, recreational park, a golf course, roller skating tract, sport area and restaurants.

These projects aim at servicing foreign investors and business people as well as wealthy Vietnamese residents. Phu My Hung plans to sell modern houses for $29,800 per unit.

Local authorities have also built seven housing projects in Saigon South to provide accomodation for low-income urban residents as a way to partly settle HCM City's serious housing shortage. These projects comprise 200,000 flats with floor space of 267.5 ha.

To achieve this target, local authorities plan to mobolize capital from the people, the state-owned companies, private firms, bank loans and individual buyers to build infrastructure for the new housing projects.

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