HCMC to develop compact cities around metro lines, Ring Road 3

Ho Chi Minh City will build compact cities near Metro Line No. 1 and Ring Road 3 to pilot the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model, said director of the municipal Department of Transport Tran Quang Lam on Friday.

Compact cities are an urban planning and urban design concept which promote relatively high residential density with mixed land uses. They are based on an efficient public transport system and an urban layout which encourages walking and cycling, low energy consumption, and reduced pollution.

TOD is a model that designs urban development plans based on transit systems, thus improving efficiency of land use and transit operations.

This model is popular in countries such as South Korea and Singapore but has not been deployed in Vietnam, Lam said at a working session with relevant units.

Resolution 98, adopted by the Vietnamese legislature in June, allows HCMC to pilot the TOD model, with the use of budgets designated for independent public investment projects to pay for resettlement compensation and support projects in the vicinity of railway stations and intersections along Ring Road 3, he said, adding the municipal People's Committee has been given the right to adjust construction density and the social and technical infrastructure criteria of these projects.

“TOD allows the city to adjust its planning and land recovery and auction plans in the vicinity of major traffic hubs to develop new urban areas with a high population density and synchronous infrastructure. The model will also help maximize the efficiency of land use in the locality,” Lam noted.

“It is a great opportunity for the city, but the time to pilot the new mechanism is short, only 5 years, so we need to speed up the implementation process," he noted.

Initially, the southern economic hub plans to pilot the TOD model in railway stations along Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) and intersections along Ring Road 3. In the next phases, the model will be applied to other metro lines, Ring Road 4, and the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Expressway.

As the first urban railway project in HCMC, 20-kilometer Metro Line No. 1 includes 11 elevated and three underground stations. Most of the stations are along the Hanoi Highway, where there is a high population density.

Metro Line No. 1, connecting Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Tourist Park in Thu Duc city, is expected to be completed this year, 15 years after work first began in 2008. The project has missed several deadlines to date.

The line has cost VND43.7 trillion ($1.89 billion), sourced from Japanese official development assistance (ODA) and Vietnamese counterpart funding.

Meanwhile, the Ring Road 3 section passing through HCMC is more than 47 kilometers long, with a number of major interchanges with surrounding provinces such as Tan Van, Ben Luc-Long Thanh, Long Thanh-Dau Giay, and Provincial Road 10. Work on the section began in June 2023.

Ring Road 3 will run 76.3 kilometers through HCMC and the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Long An. It is estimated to cost VND75.4 trillion ($3.2 billion) in all.

It will start at the intersection with Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway in Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province, and end at the intersection with Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway in Ben Luc district, Long An province.

Once open in 2026, the route will create a major breakthrough in traffic connections, thus promoting the southeastern region's socio-economic development.