To contribute more solutions to smart city development

Binh Duong has become a bright spot on the southern key economic region in investment attraction, socio-economic development based on a well-planned roadmap. Binh Duong has many opportunities to expand international cooperation relations for the implementation of the Smart City Project in the future. Binh Duong Newspaper had an interview with Dr. - Architect Nguyen Tien Thanh, lecturer at Van Lang University (Ho Chi Minh City), about the strengths and challenges in Binh Duong urban planning in the future, as a foundation for Binh Duong to realize its socio-economic development plans, to effectively promote the implementation of the Smart City Project.

- As a former lecturer in Binh Duong, how do you assess the urban infrastructure of Binh Duong?

- Binh Duong's strength is rapid and successful economic growth, with many industrial parks in the province. Binh Duong has well developed a transportation system for more than 20 years in association with successfully attracting foreign investment capital and forming gathered industrial parks. This success has helped Binh Duong become a province owning the largest number of industrial parks, the highest urbanization rate in the country. Besides, Binh Duong gained many successes in the urban and infrastructure sectors, such as the formation of social housing areas invested and developed by Becamex IDC. Binh Duong is also a pioneer in building a complete transportation system as a driving force for socio-economic development of the whole province, making an important contribution to the overall development of the province in a short time.

Binh Duong is also known as one of the few provinces and cities in Vietnam pioneering in information technology application in urban planning and management. In Nov 2016, Binh Duong Smart City Project was approved. This was a socio-economic breakthrough strategy until 2021, with a vision to 2030, towards a higher value-added economy, setting the first foundation for a service, high-tech production, smart urban planning, creating a basis for a knowledge economy. The cooperation in smart urban area of ​​Binh Duong is diverse, with the participation of developed countries in the world such as the Netherlands, Korea...

A green space of Binh Duong along the Saigon River.

- As a researcher, in your opinion, regarding urban planning, what challenges face Binh Duong province?

- Currently Binh Duong is facing many problems in the urbanization process, such as traffic congestion and regional traffic connections, environmental pollution, especially water pollution, solution to the overload situation of social infrastructure (health, education, and accommodation for workers). In addition, although technical infrastructure of the province has developed better compared to some other localities, it is necessary to pay attention to issues, like: rain water drainage, flooding in some locations, industrial wastewater treatment and drainage in industrial parks to meet standards, construction issues in some urban areas.

Furthermore, urban planning projects of the province should have a long-term, reasonable vision, and policies on development control and urban management, avoid causing waste of land and investment resources. Another problem that Binh Duong needs to pay attention to is the "hot" urbanization process. This is a spontaneous urbanization phenomenon in some localities that could lead to major consequences...

- In the smart city building process, how should Binh Duong implement the plan to meet the demand for sustainable development, sir?

- In my opinion, the smart city structure in Binh Duong should follow the direction of forming sustainable residential areas, green areas and models based on decentralized and multi-centered elements in the planning structure. Urban residential areas in the province need to be more integrated in order to maximize the intelligence in the new era, help reduce unnecessary traffic, reduce congestion in central areas of cities and urban areas. Besides, the province needs to create opportunities for architects and planners to have new initiatives on new structure models adapt to the smart city.

Regarding the socio-economic forecast in urban planning, the province needs to follow the population size of Binh Duong province till 2030, with a vision to 2050, in which the province needs to determine the reasonable development scale of industrial zones in localities, the nature of products; determine the development of services, tourism and environmental protection. The province also needs to effectively control and enforce Vietnam's legal regulations for residential areas for foreign workers and ensure public safety in residential areas.

Binh Duong is the pioneer in researching and implementing the smart city model in the country. This was a socio-economic breakthrough strategy until 2021, with a vision to 2030, towards a higher value-added economy, setting the first foundation for a service, high-tech production, smart urban planning, creating a basis for a knowledge economy. Based on scientific premise and practical experiences on smart city development and urban sustainable development, at the same time, specific conditions of Binh Duong, regarding a solution to organizing urban space and urban technical infrastructure adapting to smart city, I propose that Binh Duong establish a model and control the development of urban space and transportation organization for new transport means of the smart city’s era.

Besides, Binh Duong needs to develop a social and technical infrastructure in accordance with smart city; set up urban management and development control tools; resolve spontaneous urban issues... to ensure sustainable development and green growth, ensuring environmental ecology for urban areas. Additionally, the province needs to focus on developing transport infrastructure to connect well with other provinces and cities in the southern key economic region; apply smart devices and timely update information on climate change and flooding in the inner city and rural residential areas in lowland areas. At the same time, the province should pay more attention to the issue of smart drainage through the provision and construction of an early warning system for flooding points; promote the effectiveness of attracting talents; continue to invest in building houses for middle and low-income people, with different types of high-rise apartment buildings, rental houses and social houses.

Especially, Binh Duong needs to retain the green space and advertise the landscape along the Saigon River; maintaining Lai Thieu orchards, developing green urban areas ... as a foundation for local tourism growth.

Reported by Tieu My – Translated by Ngoc Huynh