Hai Phong authorities have decided to turn the city's Vu Yen island into a high-end eco-urban area.
Under a plan approved in 2017, the whole island of 872 hectares and 48 hectares of the banks of Cam river would be shaped into a forest eco park, golf course, hotel, luxurious recreational and eco-residential complex, accommodating over 6,800 people,
According to an amended plan just approved by municipal authorities, the project will become a high-end eco-urban area. It will also cover part of May Chai ward in Ngo Quyen district to build a bridge over the Cam river, connecting roads as well as social housing.
Vu Yen island, surrounded by Bach Dang, Cam and Ruot Lon rivers, is located in Thuy Nguyen and Hai An districts, about a 10-minute drive from Hai Phong's center.
The project’s accommodation size will increase to 61,200 people with an adjustment that 20% of the total area will be allocated for building social housing. The original plan for two golf courses has been changed to just one, the 36-hole course that opened in 2016.
Per the Prime Minister’s decision, the project’s investment will triple to VND55.87 trillion ($2.4 billion). It will have 200 hectares for building 7,000 villas, 3,550 shophouses and 50 hectares for social housing.
The investor is Vingroup, Vietnam's largest private conglomerate.
Also in July, Vinhomes, a Vingroup subsidiary, obtained approval from Hai Phong authorities to build a new urban area covering more than 240 hectares - 107 hectares in Duong Kinh district and 133 hectares in Kien Thuy district. It will spend more than VND23 trillion ($971.3 million) on the project.
Hai Phong has outperformed the nation’s H1/2023 economic expansion of 3.72% year-on-year with a growth of 9.94% in gross regional domestic product (GRDP), according to municipal data. The growth, the third-highest in the country, was driven by a 0.95% increase in agriculture-forestry-fisheries, 10.22% in industry-construction, and 11.12% in services.