Vietnam keen to construct sustainable development cities

It is a main theme of a conference organised by the Vietnam Association of Architecture (VAA) and the Vietnam Institute of Architecture under the Ministry of Construction (MoC) heard in Hanoi on October 3. 

Numerous international and domestic experts participated in the event, which aims to send a message to city managers and architects calling for action plans to develop sustainable cities, VAA chairman Nguyen Tan Van said. 

Dr Nguyen Quang, the United Nations’ Habitat Programme Manager in Vietnam, said a number of healthy and happy cities exist around the world, where the gap between rich and poor has faded away. 
Residents are treated equally and they all share the same accommodation conditions, Quang added. 
Jacques Moussafir from ARIA Technologies, a French company that sells software run air pollution simulations and meteorological analyses, suggested the country develop policies to reform its traffic system, urban space design, and land use. 

Construction Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said 770 cities and towns throughout Vietnam with a combined population of nearly 35 million have made substantial contributions to economic development, accounting for approximately 72% of national GDP. 

At the same time, the minister highlighted the shortcomings in Vietnam’s urban systems, such as traffic jams, environmental pollution, and floods due to poor planning and supervision of urban development.