Van Don island district in the northern province of Quang Ninh is set to become a multi-sector marine economic zone, and an entertainment hub with casino and high-class sea-island tourism services.
Under the freshly approved Van Don urban development program by 2030, with a vision to 2040, the locality will become an urban area with synchronous, green, sustainable, and climate-adaptive infrastructure.
The island will preserve its landscape and identity, while effectively exploiting the distinct advantages of its geographical location and natural environment.
Van Don will strive to achieve the tier-3 urban criteria by 2025 and become a town that meets the tier-2 urban criteria by 2030.
Under the current planning, Van Don Economic Zone is divided into two spaces for development, of which Cai Bau Island will be for major functional areas and Van Hai Archipelago for high-end resort tourism, eco-tourism, and high-tech agricultural production associated with preserving the ecological landscape and biodiversity.
Regarding the urban area development roadmap, Van Don will complete and renovate existing urban areas; build tourism projects, new urban areas and resettlement areas by 2025.
In the 2026-2030 period, it will improve the quality of urban infrastructure, continue to expand the existing downtown area, and look towards the establishment of Doan Ket, Quan Lan and Minh Chau wards. Of which, Quan Lan and Minh Chau will be developed into key sea-island tourism destinations.
A new administrative center will be built, serving as the service, commercial and political hub of Van Don town.
For 2031-2040, Van Don will upgrade infrastructure, expand the construction of new urban, service and commercial areas, and improve the quality of socio-economic and technical infrastructure of island communes.
If Van Don becomes a town, Quang Ninh will have the biggest number of towns among provinces in Vietnam. Currently, it has four towns, namely Ha Long, Mong Cai, Cam Pha and Uong Bi. Under its provincial master plan for the 2021-30 period, with a vision to 2050, the northern province will have seven towns.