The Hanoi City People's Council met on April 20 to discuss the city plan, which aims to have Hanoi expand the city's space and create a key metropolis that is surrounded by satellite townships consisting of five urban centres and 13 towns.

The city aims to have GDP per capita of between US$5,100 to US$5,300 by 2020 when the population is estimated to reach 8 million, 54 to 55 percent of them will be urban residents. The population is planned to grow to 9.4 to 9.5 million ten years later, with 67 to 70 percent of people having a good education standard.

The city also plans to have 70 to 75 percent of all workers to be trained by 2020 and about 85-90 percent by 2030.

Hanoi will be developed to become a special city with specific characteristics while also being a tourism and transaction centre in the Asia Pacific region.

The plan prioritises the city's development in the west and north. Population density will be curbed in the city's old quarter to help efforts aimed at preserving and restoring the historical area.

The plan's cost is expected to reach US$60 billion. City authorities hope to take advantage of public funding sources as well as non-state capital for the building of infrastructure, education, health, culture and tourism services in the city. The council continues discussing the plan on April 21.