Two mega urban area projects in central Vietnam get greenlight

Two major urban projects in Quang Ngai province's Dung Quat Economic Zone, with a total investment of over VND54 trillion ($2.06 billion), have received in-principle approvals from Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha.

They are the Southeast Dung Quat-North New Urban Area and the Southeast Dung Quat-South New Urban Area.

The northern project spans approximately 1,320 hectares, featuring 1,668 villas and townhouses, an 18-hole golf course, and a projected population of nearly 86,000. Around 31 hectares are allocated for social housing.

The total investment is about VND27 trillion ($1.03 billion), including compensation, support, and resettlement costs.

Meanwhile, the southern one is slightly larger, covering around 1,377 hectares, with 935 villas and townhouses, an 18-hole golf course, and an estimated 68,700 residents. It includes over 24 hectares reserved for social housing, with an estimated total investment of VND27.5 trillion.

These two projects are part of the 1:2,000 zoning plan for the Southeast Dung Quat Service and Urban Area, which was approved and announced by the provincial People's Committee in January.

Its total planned area is more than 7,345 hectares, envisioned as a multi-functional area combining urban, tourism, service, financial, and commercial functions to become a new growth engine for the southeastern coastal region of Quang Ngai province.

Both projects are scheduled for implementation from 2023 to 2037, with a maximum operational period of 70 years from the date land allocation decisions are granted to the investors. The selection of investors will be carried out via bidding, in accordance with current legal regulations.

Because the projects are located in coastal border areas, foreign organizations and individuals are not permitted to own housing in these developments.

With its strategic position in the Central Key Economic Region, Quang Ngai has recently been attracting significant investment and rapidly developing its transportation and urban infrastructure. The province currently has five industrial parks and 20 industrial clusters in operation, including the 45,000-hectare Dung Quat Economic Zone.

Dung Quat is the first coastal economic zone in Vietnam, focusing on the development of heavy industry, oil refining and petrochemicals, seaports. It is being expanded into a large-scale industrial-service-urban coastal zone in central Vietnam.

The multi-sector and multi-field economic zone houses a petrochemical refinery, a national energy center, mechanical engineering-metallurgy facilities, and a major regional logistics center to effectively exploit the Dung Quat deep-water port and Chu Lai airport.

According to the national development plan through 2030 approved by the Government, Quang Ngai is expected to become a modern industrial province, with oil refining and steel metallurgy as its two key sectors.

By 2030, Quang Ngai province plans to develop 10 industrial parks, including six in the Dung Quat EZ, with a combined area of 6,648 hectares. These IPs are set to follow the models of service-urban-industrial complexes, support IPs, eco-industrial parks, high-tech parks.