'Forgotten' peninsula in HCMC left in limbo

Lying in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Da Peninsula was once known as a precious pearl, boasting beautiful nature and a prime location. But now it seems to have been 'forgotten' amid the bustle of modern life.

Thanh Da Peninsula is sandwiched between the Saigon River and Thanh Da Canal, covering wards 27 and 28 in Binh Thanh district, and only about 5 kilometers from District 1. Its eastern, southern and northern parts border Thu Duc city by the Saigon River.

The only entrance by road to the peninsula is over Kinh Thanh Da bridge from Xo Viet Nghe Tinh street. The Binh Quoi ferry from Thu Duc city’s Linh Dong ward is another option to access the peninsula.

This peninsula is divided into two areas: Thanh Da and Binh Quoi Tay. Binh Quoi occupies most of the peninsula with scattered residential areas, while Thanh Da area is home to Thanh Da Residence with old apartments built before 1975 and is somewhat busier than Binh Quoi due to its proximity to the district center.

In 1992, there were plans to develop Binh Quoi-Thanh Da into a "super urban area" covering about 426 hectares. It was expected to become a modern ecological urban area housing 41,000-50,000 people. However, planning has been suspended for 30 years and now the rural area stands vacant in the heart of Vietnam’s southern economic hub.

Nguyen Van Sau, a 61-year-old farmer in Binh Quoi, said his family grows two rice crops per year on three land lots ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 square meters.

"Besides planting rice, I also raise fish and grow lotus flowers in two ponds. Around 12 other households here also do the same," said Sau.

He said his family had lived there since before the Liberation Day in 1975, when there were just a few people. Since then the land has been passed on to their children or sold. Gradually, the local community has become larger and larger, but they mainly live along big roads.

“About 10 years ago, a construction company intended to develop a housing project here but then it went bankrupt. So the district authorities let us hire land to grow rice and vegetables,” he said.

Most houses in Binh Quoi are in disrepair and could collapse at any time. However, local residents are not permitted to build or repair their houses as the area they are living is under planning.

Le Van Thach, a teacher at Binh Quoi Tay Primary School, said his house was built by his parents in the 1990s. He cannot build a new house as the area was part of the Binh Quoi - Thanh Da urban area plan.

According to the teacher, there are more than 100 houses like his in the area. The development plans are still only on paper although it they were approved more than 25 years ago. Many meetings between authorities, business leaders and the public have been held during which locals asked for the plans to be scrapped so they can rebuild and repair their houses for safety reasons, but nothing emerged from those meetings.

Degraded houses and damaged roads can also be seen in Thanh Da, where life is busier.

Built in 1960, Thanh Da Residence was one of the first tenements in Saigon, used as a residence for military officers under the puppet government. The apartments here have an area of about 80 square meters each. Currently, there are about 4,300 households living in 22 apartment blocks.

After 63 years, the apartment complex is seriously degraded, with dark and damp corridors, criss-crossed electrical wires and water pipes, and many walls revealing rusty iron. Blocks IV and VI have been determined as having subsidence of over 2 degrees.

In 2014, Binh Thanh district relocated more than 280 households from the two blocks, which currently accommodate 11 families.

Ngo Thi Binh, a resident of an apartment in Thanh Da Residence block H, said that in 2010, the city had a plan to move residents out of the apartment building to build a new one. But after many investors showed and interest, the plan remains on paper.

Waiting for 25 years

In 1992, the Binh Quoi-Thanh Da urban area project was approved by the municipal People's Committee. In 2004, Saigon Construction Corporation was chosen as developer, but this unit could not implement the project. Therefore, in 2010, the local authorities revoked its decision.

In 2015, a consortium of Bitexco Group and Emaar Properties PJSC, a real estate company in Dubai, was selected as the new investor. However, in 2017, Emaar Properties PJSC withdrew from the project due to sluggish compensation, putting the plan on hold once again.

Under the 1/2000-scale plan, Binh Quoi-Thanh Da would have been developed into an ecological urban and resort area with a moderate population density. The project was expected to have a total investment of about VND30.7 trillion ($1.3 billion). It was to include three subdivisions accompanied by urban functional areas, public works and parks, with construction density of about 32%.

Once the project was completed, Thanh Da Peninsula would take on a completely new appearance, with lagoons, fields, ponds and lakes to be replaced by tourist resorts, commercial centers, restaurants and hotels.

Under the plan, the peninsula would have had high-rise and mixed-use apartment buildings, commercial areas, townhouses, shophouses and adjacent villas. Besides, there would be functional zones such as administrative, sports, health care and entertainment areas.

According to HCMC Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan, in 2018, the municipal People’s Committee held a tender to choose a new investor for the Thanh Da project. However, the project has not yet found a developer to date.

In 2020, the Binh Quoi-Thanh Da new urban area project was removed from the land use plan of Binh Thanh district, but Thanh Da is marked to become a new urban area meeting the criteria of a modern eco-city.

Thanh Da Peninsula is expected to see many positive signals in the future as in September 2022, the Department of Transport proposed the city administration prioritize the construction of Can Gio, Thu Thiem 4, Binh Quoi and Binh Quoi-Rach Chiec bridges linking Thanh Da Peninsula with the city center.

In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has also proposed the city People's Committee to allocate land to Thanh Da Housing Development Corporation to implement the first phase of a project to rebuild eight apartment blocks at Thanh Da Residence in Binh Thanh district’s ward 27.