Institutionalization Report - ENG

VIETNAM INSTITUTE FOR URBAN
AND RURAL PLANNING
FINAL REPORT
SUPPORTING FOR PROMOTING THE
INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED
PARTICIPATORY CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AT
NATIONAL LEVEL
FINAL REPORT
SUPPORTING FOR PROMOTING THE
INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED
PARTICIPATORY CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AT
NATIONAL LEVEL
Ha Noi, December 2016

Final report - Support for promoting institutionalization of community-based,
iii participatory city development strategy at national level
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
"Final report - Support for promoting institutionalization of

community-based participatory city development strategy at
national level" task force
Leading: Ngo Trung Hai, Nguyen Quang
Task Managers: Phan Thanh Bich, Bui Thu Hien
International Experts: Detlef Kammeier
National Experts: Ngo Trung Hai, Le Kieu Thanh, Nguyen Xuan Anh, Nguyen Thi Hong Van
Publishing Coordinator: Nguy Huong Ha
Designer: Pham Nguyen Tuyen Hoang
English Editor: Terry Standley
Financial Support: Cities Alliance
Logistic Support:
UN-Habitat Vietnam Office
Tam Ky CPC Office
Quy Nhon CPC Office
Association of Cities of Vietnam - ACVN
Vietnam Urban Forum
Table of Contents iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement iii
List of maps vi
List of tables vi
OVERVIEW
OF THE COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY CITY
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN SEVEN VIETNAM CITIES 1
1.1 Objectives 4
1.2 The task title “Promote the institutionalization of community-based, participatory 4
approach at the national level”
1.3 Urban development context 5
1.4 Themes in CDS 6
1.5 CDS formulation process 8
EVALUATE METHODS
FOR CDS PREPARATION THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED,
11
PARTICIPATORY CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN SEVEN
VIETNAM CITIES, THE PILOT PROJECT IN TAM KY AND
QUY NHON CITY
2.1 Criteria to determine a good CDS 12

2.2 About the theoretical framework of CDS methods in the institutional 12
context of Vietnam
2.3 Actual evaluation of CDS in cities of Vietnam 15
Final report - Support for promoting institutionalization of community-based
v participatory city development strategy at national level
25
PROMOTING THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION
OF COMMUNITY-BASED
PARTICIPATORY CDS AT NATIONAL LEVEL
3.1 Approach method 26

3.2 Roadmap for promoting the institutionalization of community based participatory 26
CDS at National level
3.3 Analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the current method of urban planning 26
formulation and management
3.4 The integrating process of CDS into the general urban planning 28
3.5 Review and propose additional adjustment to legal system relating to law on 37
construction and law on urban planning
3.6 The relationship with the National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS) in the 45
period of 2020 vision to 2030
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47

Table of Contents vi
LIST OF MAPS
Map 1: Ha Long City: City development strategy 17
Poverty reduction strategy
Map 2: Can Tho City Urban Development Strategy 18
Axis and development axis
Topography and transport system
Multi-centric Urban Development Strategy
Technical Infrastructure development strategy
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The process of integrating CDS into General Urban Planning 28
I
OVERVIEW
OF THE COMMUNITY-BASED
PARTICIPATORY CITY DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES IN SEVEN
VIETNAM CITIES
2 participatory city development strategy at national level
OVERVIEW assessing the situation, building a vision on

After more than 20 years of the Doi Moi the basis of meeting the long-term common
reforms within a broad range of decentraliza- interests of communities and businesses, and
tion, Vietnam has made impressive progress in then developing the strategy and implementing
socio-economic development. The urban sector specific actions, leading to the city changing its
has been playing the role of the driving force performance significantly in accordance with
for economic growth, with urban population the defined vision.
accounting for more than 30% of the total The CDS approach is holistic, but not overly
population of Vietnam in 2009 and contrib- broad. It has a focus on the main themes that
uting to nearly 70% of the country’s National are directed towards implementation, requiring
Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, not only the formulation of strategies, but also
along with these achievements, urban areas have identifying resources and the mechanisms to
been faced with emerging challenges, including: mobilize these resources both internal and exter-
urban poverty; unemployment; low accessibility nal to the city. It thereby ensures the feasibility
to housing, basic infrastructure and services; of the proposals. The private sector, especially
increasing income disparity among social classes; local communities, thus become the actors who
environmental degradation and climate change develop and implement the CDS. Preparing
impacts. Considerable evidence shows that the the CDS is therefore primarily a citizen’s par-
effect of urban performance has not been based ticipatory process while local authorities play
on maintaining its role, the economic structure mainly a facilitating role. The capacity of local
and existing institutions. It depends instead governments is important in serving as a catalyst,
more on the ability to adapt. representing the public interest and overcoming
At the CDS preparation workshop con- the deficiencies and failure of the market.
ducted in Tam Ky city, within Quang Nam Although perceived as a tool to create
province, in December 2012, representatives controlled jolts to the city’s economy and the
from the seven pre-selected project cities efficiency of the urban areas, CDS requires
emphasized the need for change arising from sustainability in urban development in the
poor unstructured participation, low “synchro- three main aspects of : balancing between
nization” of the various plans, dysfunctional development needs with the conservation of
relationships between city and province, and environmental values, natural resources, effi-
overly ambitious development targets with cient energy use and climate change resilience;
inadequate prioritization and advance resource improving the quality of social services and
identification. the access to social services; and development
With the aim of addressing these per- of urban morphological structure in line with
sistent shortcomings, the CDS approach had providing urban infrastructure and allocating
earlier been introduced to cities in Viet Nam appropriate and effective natural resources.
as a critical tool to set the stage for integrated These attributes of CDS serve as reaction to
urban socio-economic and spatial development, the defects of traditional planning tools that rep-
especially within a perspective of innovation. resent administrative management from the top
Firstly, the role of the CDS process enables down, and strength in compliance and weakness
stakeholders to become truly objective when in autonomy of the city governments of Vietnam
Overview 3
(not under the central control and manage- procedures among administrative levels and
ment). In order for CDS to become an useful among line agencies, government, enterprises
and effective tool and to be applied officially at and the community. This study is not intended
the administrative levels, institutionalizing CDS as the argument addressing all these major issues.
at the national level is indispensable. This will Its aim is to build the initial case for promoting
be a lengthy process, given that there are many the institutionalization of CDS in the executive
things to be changed in terms of legislation, system of Vietnam.
management, inherent habits, administrative
Quy Nhon City by night (c) Quy Nho City PC

1.1. OBJECTIVES 1.2. THE TASK TITLE

• To directly support the two focus cities “Promote the institutional-
and, through a learning/networking process, ization of community-based,
the five subsidiary partner cities, in develop- participatory approach at the
ing Community-Based, Participatory City national level”
Development Strategies, and within this
framework: 1. Activity 1: Based on documents of the
• To strengthen capacities of local govern- CDS formulation process provided by the
ment and its partners/stakeholders in strategic UN-Habitat project team, draft and finalize
planning, incorporating multi-stakeholder the institutionalization paper for CDS of Tam
participation; Ky and Quy Nhon.
• To apply the city-wide development forum (i) Work closely with the UN-Habitat proj-
initiative inclusive of all areas and interest ect team and city task force teams (Tam Ky
groups within the overall CDS context and and Quy Nhon) to collect all documents of
building on the Community Development Fund project activities and information (as necessary)
(CDF) local and city-level achievements; and draft the outline of CDS institutionaliza-
• To identity, prioritize and develop investment tion paper with focus on CDS experiences and
opportunities within a participatory multi-sec- process and rational institutionalization linked
toral mechanism for mobilizing domestic and with national policies, including the National
external resources including local community Urban Development Strategy (NUDS) and the
funds; Planning process, and institutional mechanisms.
• To improve harmonization of planning pro- (ii) Work closely with the UN-Habitat
cedures and products, horizontally across the project team and task force team of two cities to
various types of plans and sector strategies and work with provincial government and ministries
vertically through community, local govern- such as the Ministry of Construction (MOC)
ment, regional and national levels; and the Ministry of Planning and Investment
• To strengthen the networking process among (MPI) to consult on the detailed outline of the
cities and communities in group exchanges and CDS institutionalization paper.
structured learning on strategic, participatory (iii) Work closely with the UN-Habitat
planning and community development; project team to finalize the first and final drafts
• To promote institutionalization of the of the CDS institutionalization paper after con-
Community-Based, Participatory City sultation with different relevant partners and
Development Strategy approach at the national stakeholders.
level.
2. Activity 2: Work with the UN-Habitat
project team and the Vietnam Urban Forum
to widely disseminate the CDS papers and
CDS institutionalization papers at the
national level.
(i) Prepare the presentations and brief
introduction on the CDS formulation process
Overview 5
together with institutionalization recommen- high density and high-transaction environments

dations for workshops/ seminars/conferences. - cities drive much higher levels of household
(ii) Collaborate with the Vietnam Urban income than non-urban areas, consume less
Forum to set up a plan to promote the CDS energy per unit of economic output as they
paper and process on a national urban policy develop, have lower per capita costs for envi-
platform through a special Vietnam Urban ronmental infrastructure, and so on. However,
Forum event and other national special events. a city presents what of its potential it hasn’t at
(iii) Collaborate with ACVN to share the all exploited.
CDS institutionalization paper in CDF and
cities network of ACVN. 2. Emerging challenges
Global warming is also expected to cause a rise in
sea levels, threatening many large industrialised
1.3. URBAN DEVELOPMENT and developing cities. In short, many developing
CONTEXT cities clearly face a perilous future unless better
1. Role and potential of cities strategising, incorporating anticipation and
The performance of cities in the 21st century is foresight, become the norm. Indeed, resilience
a global concern. Urban regions will be the most is becoming as important as competitiveness in
important mechanisms of poverty prevention urban performance. Given a competitive and
and alleviation - the front line in the adjust- uncertain economic environment, developing
ment to a post-petroleum world (cities consume cities need discipline to most effectively use
most of the world’s energy and commodities, their limited financial and human resources to
including many types of consumption) and achieve targets. Local governments alone cannot
they account for more than 80 percent of global turn a city around. They control a minuscule
economic growth, also cities will determine the portion of the capital available for city building
economic fate of nations and continents. The and often have an even smaller proportion of
productivity of the labor force is high due to the available talent in urban innovation.
1.4. THEMES IN CDS incentive structures to induce more efficient

1. Livelihood (Jobs, Business Start-ups, and use of energy in industrial processes, building
Household Income: Economic growth is essen- construction and use (green buildings), house-
tial to improving the lot of the urban poor, hold consumption,and urban form
especially new migrants to the city In terms of service delivery, the CDS should
Livelihoods in developing cities are inex- focus on coverage (geographic), accessibility
tricably bound up with the business climate. and affordability (price), and quality versus cost
Local governments can do much to help small (trade-offs often need to be made, depending on
businesses: for example, they can minimise the socio-economic status of neighbourhoods).
nuisance taxation, offer training, and support
start-ups. 3. Spatial form and infrastructure;
Human resource development, especially over Infrastructure assessment and investment plan-
the medium term, is critical to competitiveness. ning are complex and require careful attention in
CDS processes should identify ways to improve the CDS process. Trade-offs are often required
access to education and training, particularly (and synergies may exist) between equity objec-
for the poor, and to enhance the quality of tives (providing basic services to all members of
training programmes and align local educational urban society at affordable rates) and economic
curricula with the emerging urban economy. objectives, which may be facilitated by express-
ways, ports, airports, and so on.
2. Environmental sustainabilityty, energy effi- Land-use and physical plans flesh out the
ciency of cities and quality of service delivery; physical implications of the CDS and be pur-
CDS processes tended to view environmental posefully linked to it. Spatial form, from a
and energy concerns in two ways: (i) as “add- strategic perspective, is of particular concern on
ons” to overall strategies driven by economic three counts: (i) the close relationship between
and spatial concerns; and (ii) as a subject urban form and energy efficiency; (ii) the
for conventional environmental infrastruc- close relationship between attractiveness of
ture programming. Given the rising cost of cities (amenity) and economic performance
energy, the vulnerability of freshwater sources, (it is virtually impossible for an unattractive
urban sprawl and related mobility costs, and the city to move into higher value economic activ-
increased frequency of natural hazards in many ity); and (iii) the critical importance of land
cities, environmental and energy considerations (availability, location, tenure) in addressing
should become part of the core CDS strategic the challenges of slum communities, and of
process. However programming of infrastruc- the use of market-based techniques, such as
ture services, such as sewer trunk and feeder land readjustment, that have the potential to
networks, is obviously an important routine leverage enormous amounts of capital from
task for cities. slum areas.
Energy costs affect virtually every product Accessible land must be available for a wide
and service a city sells, as well as influencing the range of actors, ranging from formal develop-
standard of living of households, particularly ers to the newcomers themselves, to provide
poor ones. An effective CDS would suggest housing and communities for new migrants. It
Overview 7
Aerial view of Da Nang City (c) Vuong Khai Dinh
is much easier to prevent poverty by effectively 5. Governance.

absorbing migrants into housing, transportation, Local government has key roles to play: rep-
and livelihood systems than to deal with the resenting the public interest, being a stimulus
problems later. to urban innovation, and taking responsibility
for delivery of key services (either directly or
4. Financial resources; indirectly through innovative mechanisms, such
The role of local government to mobilise finan- as build–own–transfer)
cial resources, both from within and outside the Virtually every large city in the world suf-
city, as well as from the public sector (national fers from inefficiencies and lost opportunities
government programmes, for example), the because of the fragmented, uncoordinated urban
private sector (domestic and multinational governance that occurs in metropolitan areas
companies), and civil society (voluntary organ- with a proliferaction of local governments. With
isations) sources. Over the medium term (10 devolution of powers, local governments have
years), the amount of capital that a city can raise much more control over, and responsibility for,
to improve its public and private environments urban futures. Decentralisation makes the CDS
is highly elastic and potentially very large, given process more important - the potential gains
the right policy frameworks, marketing, and from implementing a CDS being much higher
promotion. in decentralised governance environments.
Local government financial management is
very important and is essential that it be done
effectively.
1.5. CDS FORMULATION • Prepare documents for training.

PROCESS • Carry out assessment reports of trainees
and trainers.
The CDS formulation process includes the • Arrange around 40 people participating in
following steps: the training course.
• Initiation, initial assessment and determining - Conduct the site surveys in the selected project
the scope of the CDS; sites in Vietnam and in other countries and
• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, cooperate with the other partners.
Opportunities, Threats) - Disseminate the reports of the working
• Formulating the vision; in-country visits and those abroad, including
• Setting strategic thrusts; the information from trainees at each city, the
• Awareness building and implementation. lessons learned and the final reports in English
and Vietnamese.
1. Initiating the process, the CDS formula- • Approximately 10-15 participants in the
tion plan study tour in the country
- Establish the coordination committee: • Approximately 10-15 participants in the
• Determine stakeholders study trips abroad.
• Establish the city steering committee - Identify the themes on evaluation, assessment
• Prepare documentation (agenda, analytic methods and analytical framework for each city.
results and workplans for the 1st six months). • Prepare the technical reports, including the
• Announce the launch of the project in the tasks assigned to members of the task force.
mass media • Collect data and develop analytic geographic
- Organize the launch of workshops: Establish information system maps (GIS) for each theme
task forces and thematic working groups in in parallel with the capacity building
each city. • Prepare the analytic maps include legends
• Prepare TOR for the task forces and the- for each topic for integrating the spatial analysis
matic working groups. in the thematic evaluation.
• Disseminate the related studies - Organize the training courses for the task force
- Set up the city-wide multi-interest forum at to mobilize the participation of stakeholders
each city and also the CDF forum (where not in the process of CDS formulation, to raise
already existing) awareness of climate change and the adaptation
• Identify stakeholders strategies and community recovery, to draw
• Set up the multi-interest forum which is maps in each city, to consider the process of
based on the CDF establishment of the CDF with participation:
• Obtain the official letter approving the • Training materials
CDS project • Assessment reports of trainees and trainers.
• About 40 participants in the training courses
2. Evaluate issues in the city’s development - Carry out the thematic assessment and SWOT
• Organize the training courses on the prin- analysis, identify key issues with stakeholders:
ciples and methodology of CDS for leaders Prepare technical reports along with the wide-
of cities and provinces and members of the spread introduction of information.
task forces.
Overview 9
3. Formulate vision and strategic priorities • Complete the information collection

for the city through CDS questionnaire from themem-
- Collect the results from the evaluation period bers of the forum.
for the design and preparation of workshops • Announce on the media and with the leaflet
with the participation in terms of the vision, for introducing the project.
objectives and city development the Forum,
organize a series of interdisciplinary and city-
wide workshops on the vision, objectives and
city development strategy with the participants
from provinces, leader levels of cities, represen-
tatives from departments and the private sector.
- Prepare the technical report and the draft the
CDS for each city.
4. Link the CDS with investment plans

- Provide training courses for the multi sectoral
investment program (MSIP) for the task forces
while integrating the mechanism of CDF into
master plans:
• Training materials.
• Assessment reports of trainees and trainers.
• Undertake multi-sectoral investment
programs (MSIP) for both cities with their
participation. Integrate this MSIP into the
draft CDS.
• Minutes of meetings of technical groups
and the Forums. The second draft City
Development Strategies for each city.
• List of indicators to follow the implementa-
tion process of the CDS with the participation
of the parties, identify and assign responsibility.
• Minutes of technical meetings and test
indicators.
- Prepare the final draft CDS which includes
the next plans, capacity building, monitoring/
evaluating programs and adaptive processes to
meet the developing situation in the future at
the end of the project.
• Desseminate the final draft CDS together
with reviews and comments by leaders of prov-
inces and cities involved - in both languages.
Overview 11
II
EVALUATE
METHODS
FOR CDS PREPARATION THROUGH
COMMUNITY-BASED, PARTICIPATORY
CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN SEVEN
VIETNAM CITIES, THE PILOT PROJECT IN
TAM KY AND QUY NHON CITY
2.1 CRITERIA TO 2.2 ABOUT THE THEORETICAL

DETERMINE A GOOD CDS FRAMEWORKOF CDS
METHODS IN THE
CA Guide (1)indicating nine criteria for CDS INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT OF
evaluation as follows: VIETNAM
1. Consistency: the proposed strategies are
the result of determining the vision, SWOT 2.2.1 Theoretical framework and main themes
analysis and quality assessment. Therefore, of CDS
the stages should closely and consistently
follow each other. a. Theoretical framework
2. Priority: a limited number of strategies CDS theorists introduce this method as an effec-
ensure efficiency through a rigorous selec- tive complementary tool for planning, especially
tion process. No two strategies have the same with planning sites proved inefficient in practice,
priority level. with the following arguments:
3. Audacity: besides the practical side, the pro- Urban areas lead the economic development,
posal should show a bold path that lead to also provide infrastructure and essential services.
the expected results. Global urbanization is creating new challenges
4. Feasibility: as CDS is limited to some con- as cities consume too many resources and this
crete actions, their results must have a high threat goes beyond enviromental tolerance.
feasibility. Therefore, cities need to show a bigger role in
5. Measurability: results should be measured fighting poverty, natural resources preservation
through clear and understandable indicators. and efficient energy usage. It’s necessary to have
6. Connectivity: strategies always need the tools to help cities grow smarter, improve their
cooperation of more than one stakeholder. competitiveness, use less natural resources, and
Many authorities, investors and population sustainably protect the environment with a
groups should be drawn and act together. limited resource condition. Different cities have
7. Ability to organize and execute: clearly different locations, environments, histories,
define goals, timeframes and responsibilities advantages and challenges, thus there is no
for each subject. universal formula for all cities, but every place
8. Ability to motivate: reward mechanism in should have its development path according to
situ to promote active groups. its specifications.
9. Flexibility: connotation strategic frame- CDS is a method that can bring the desired
work needing to ensure the ability to change future through an action plan to achieve several
accordingly to actual conditions, while still key objectives. CDS acts as a controlled shock
making sure to the vision is pursued. to change the city in a positive direction. It’s
not a government-based mobilization but a
(1) Guide to City Development Strategy, Cities Alliance, community-based mobilization, in which the
2006, https://www.citiesalliance.org/sites/citiesalliance.org/files/ government plays an important role, both as a
CA_Docs/resources/cds/cds-guidelines/cds_guidelines_final.pdf catalyst and as a representative of the majori-
ty’s interest to coordinate the market with the
long-term vision.
Evaluate methods 13
b. Main themes Institution: local authorities need to become

Livelihood: CDS is concerned about the busi- true representatives of people’s rights, expressing
ness environment in order to attract business, in the process policy formulation, urban eco-
entrepreneurship, increasing income, education nomic development and public service delivery.
and quality of life for local human resources;
fundamental elements that define the city’s 2.2.2 Strengths and limitations in the context
competitiveness. of Viet Nam
Environmental sustainability, energy effi- CDS is expressed like an international treaty. It
ciency and quality of service delivery: the refers to the common definition of approaches.
challenges of the environment, natural resources When applied in each country, it requires an
and energy require these elements to become integration process. CDS is designed as an open
major components in the preparation of the tool that can incorporate the existing system. It
CDS. does not require demolition or change in the
Spatial structure and technical infrastructure: planning processes. It only adds to the approach
are the basic components for the effectiveness from the bottom up toward the actions, taking
of all urban activities. full advantage of what can be done from the
Financial resources: the resources of the city’s existing resource, based on the active participa-
authorities are an important factor, but not the tion of local communities and local enterprises.
only one. CDS should see and exploit bigger It provides encouragement the city. In certain
resources, both inside and outside the city. circumstances, the city must set up development
strategies of their own.
Ensuring local jobs (c) Tam Ky City PC

However, when applied to the administrative use. The next important thing is preventing
mechanisms of Vietnam, the following difficul- the transformation of the CDS in the process
ties should be noted: of institutionalization into something similar
to current tools. The third thing is to continue
a. Adaptability to the current administrative to improve CDS methods, so that it really fits
management system. and becomes useful for the specific management
Administrative mechanisms of Vietnam have system of Vietnam.
some of the following distinctions: The application of CDS in Vietnam will
• High centralization, low local autonomy: include at least four stages: 1. to carry out pilot
authorities at all levels in Vietnam are designed projects to propagandize the CDS concept; 2: to
as a unified body from the central to local levels, carry out pilot projects to prove the effectiveness
which promotes superior compliance. The city is and high adaptative ability of CDS; 3. to create
not completely free to act in their administrative the standard process for CDS in Vietnam and to
territory, only to act in small jurisdictions, with consult on the institutionalization of CDS; 4.
very limited capital allocation and a limited to promote legal adjustments, institutions and
field of impact. the planning process, and to transfer experiences
• The missing link between sectors: each sector so the cities can implement CDS themselves.
has its own development plan, based on fore- At present, stage 1. can be considered suc-
casts that are not in the same scope or impact cessful. The project is now in a place between
timeframe and are not synchronized with other stage 2. and stage 3. The most difficult aspect
sectors. of this process is to prove the effectiveness of
• Bi-directional Public, Private Partnerships CDS. With the community, it should bring
(PPP): lack of social monitoring mechanism benefits in job creation, income, living condi-
for cooperative investment projects between tions. With businesses, it should create new
the government and the business. The major opportunities. With the specialists, it should
benefit for business in several PPP projects often express a high level of logic and pre-eminence
comes from the appropriation of the commu- in comparison with the existing network. With
nity’s interests. the authorities, it should enhance effectively
• Underestimation of the role of communities: the ability of concerned organs of state. With
large and small decisions are mostly determined the central level it should have the ability to
and agreed between government agencies. Public integrate into the current legal system with
opinion is only requested later on, and there- minimum disruptive effects.
fore, decisions do not reflect the trends and However, this project has made a major
aspirations of society. advance in the implementation of CDS, includ-
The approach of the CDS is basically ing creating participatory forms and training the
opposed to the prior foundations. Thus it will cadres during the process of formulating CDS;
be rejected or only acquired in a formal way, if but this project still remains an experiment, in
it is not already considered as an official tool (by that it does not include standardizing the CDS
law). Therefore, at this stage the most important formulation process, proving its exemplary role
thing is for central government to perceive CDS as an in comparison with the concerned cur-
as a pre-eminent tool, and require its official rent planning process, as well as proving the
Evaluate methods 15
harmonious combination between CDS and • The orientation to institutionalize CDS hasn’t
master planning. been addressed.
In brief, to improve integration ability, it CDS for two medium-scale cities Ha Long
should build a standard process and guideline and Can Tho was established following two
for CDS implementation in Vietnam. This phases, lasting 14 months. It started from March
process and guideline should be approved by 2006 and ended in May 2007.
the national scientific councils to ensure their Phase 1: CDS began to check present
applicability. planning projects. At this stage they inspected
existing strategies and development planning,
applied SWOT analysis for the city based on
2.3 ACTUAL EVALUATION OF the contents of the planning, determined the
CDS IN CITIES OF VIET NAM main themes and the problems that need to be
analyzed at the second stage and defined compo-
2.3.1 Period 1996-2007 nents of the checking and assessment framework
During this period, CDS has been experimented for the city. At the same time, there were con-
in seven cities such as HCM City, Da Nang, sultation activities: initially with concerned
Hai Phong, Dong Hoi, Nam Dinh, Can Tho, stakeholders, city conferences, discussions with
Ha Long: city leaders on the topics and priorities in action
• HCM City: international support in late plans; discussion with concerned stakeholders on
1990s the outstanding topic of the city in the confer-
• Da Nang: Asian Development Bank (ADB) ences held by the city, organizing the conferences
• Hai Phong: Supported by United Nations to present the draft of CDS. In addition, CDS
Development Program (UNDP) also implemented consultations with the city’s
• Dong Hoi: Supported by Swiss Agency for poor families.
Development and Cooperation (SDC) urban Phase 2: CDS began to analyze the themes
area development program in 2004-2005 and the main issues of each city to promote the
• Nam Dinh: SDC urban area development urban sustainable development in the future.
program These themes and problems were defined in the
• Can Tho & Ha Long (World Bank/Ministry report which checked existing planning and
of Construction) finished in 2007. were agreed to be brought out on city’s confer-
The common characteristics of this period ences. CDS would be formed from components
are: which has been prepared in steps 1 and 2. The
• CDS has been implemented as unofficial components included:
independent researches • The city vision as determined by the results
• There has been participation of the com- of the city consultation conferences carried out
munity but the participatory methods are not in phase 1
designed elaborately to the point they could • The themes estimated and main issues carried
build CDS together, out in phase 2
• Lack of training to improve local staff’s ability, • Strategies as summed up from the initial
• Request for integrating CDS into master SWOT analysis and analyzed articles according
planning, to the themes
• Action plans and implementation based on the city. First of all, this was an inspection of
the discussions with city leaders, paying special the planning of current plans to establish the
attention to the international and domestic les- mechanism and launch the program. Can Tho
sons and experiences on main requirements on City People’s Committee had organized many
successful implementation of CDS, especially seminars and collected the people’s opinions
the request for finance, simultaneously with about the city future. After nearly one year
integration of the implementation of CDS into implementing CDS, the authorities at all levels
financial processes, planning and legal bases in Can Tho has made significant changes. CDS
carried out in the cities of Vietnam. has created a vision for the city, owned by the
city, identified priority actions, identified the
The opinions on the effectiveness of the CDS roles of concerned stakeholders in poverty reduc-
experiment in this phase tion and the environment improvement and the
Through the process of building CDS, the city calls for investment.
authorities recognized the significance of CDS From the list of priority development proj-
as integrated planning, encouraged community ects, the city authorities can call for and set up
participation and proposed multi-disciplinary policies to encourage investment in the city.
strategies. People in the city can see the potential of their
Through the research process with the living areas, understand their roles and respon-
participation of local authorities, investors, sibilities in contributing to the establishing the
non-government organizations and especially city’s future. Thus, another result of the CDS
the participation of the people, the existing project is calling for the participation of the
problems had been fully identified, thereby community and the concerned stakeholders in
establishing it as a basis for discussing the issues formulating the strategy.
and the development direction of the city in Based on the results achieved during the
the future. Low-income population groups also implementation of CDS in Can Tho and Ha
had opportunities to present their issues of Long, the project has proved the validity of the
interest and their wishes on the development actual role of CDS in the formulation and man-
process of the city. Therefore, this was one of agement of urban planning in Vietnam as a tool
pre-eminent planning research, overcoming the for participating in the process of researching
fully participation limitation and diversity of the current situation and proposing solutions
concerned stakeholders, both the beneficiaries to urban development.
and affected subjects, as a bottom-up and top- CDS didn’t replace the existing planning
down combined approach mechanism . in Vietnam such as urban planning, economic
The report on the experience of Can Tho and social planning and other specific planning
City People’s Committee said that CDS had where it was used as a tool to integrate urban
provided the city authorities the scientific basis plans, find out the priority issues to be solved
to set up development strategies as short-term and determined the strategies, the roadmap
plans (2 - 3 years), medium-term plans (5 years) for its implementation through feasible action
and long-terms plans (10 years). These plans plans. The early projects were solved in a short
were considered as a “menu” which included period (from 3 to 5 years) on the basis of com-
many options to encourage the investment in bining the limited financial resources of the
Evaluate methods 17
government and private enterprises. During the differences between current situation and
the implementation, the project was frequently the future to propose projects or problems that
monitored, assessed with feedback to be changed need to be solved to achieve the prospect at the
and upgraded so as to be appropriate according end of the cycle. According to the process of the
to reality. master urban planning project, the implemen-
Compared with urban master planning, tation of the concrete projects was identified at
the repeated cycle to evaluate the project was the level of zoning and detailed planning. But
longer. Urban master planning had a term of in practice, many investors can see development
15-20 years and the mission of the planning potentials of the selected areas in the city for
project focused on identifying the distance or project investment, with the deployment of the
Ha Long City: City development strategy

MAP 1
Poverty reduction strategy
Source: Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning, Ministry of Construction
Can Tho City: Urban Development Strategy

MAP 2
Axis and development axis
Can Tho City: Urban Development Strategy

MAP 3
Topography and transport system
Evaluate methods 19
Can Tho City Urban Development Strategy

MAP 4
Multi-centric Urban Development Strategy
Can Tho City Urban Development Strategy

MAP 5
Technical Infrastructure development strategy
projects carried out in parallel with the stage CDS Product Review in the period 1996-2007
of carrying the next planning steps. Besides Consistency: Vision statements are quite
this, the approach in urban master planning general or inherent characteristics, apparently
is usually based on the forecast data while the not needing to be achieved. SWOT analyses
planning is long-term and the numbers always are implemented methodically and show major
fluctuate, whereas CDS is tied to real indicators opportunities and challenges. From this, CDS
and account for the change in urban areas to introduces the strategic goals within topics such
ensure flexible implementation of projects. as: urbanization; economic development and
Thus, the integration of CDS contents into infrastructure; environmental management,
the process of master planning implementa- financial management, poverty reduction and
tion according to the current laws is feasible job creation, and capacity building of urban
and effective. On the one hand, CDS is a tool administration. The strategies seem to be quite
that fully assesses the strengths, the weaknesses, comprehensive and adequate within the main
opportunities of the city to provide a vision themes of the CDS, but clearly not logical
suitable to the actual context, on the other hand, against the previous analysis. Such consistency
CDS exploits outside resources from investors is not achieved.
and consultation of concerned stakeholders. So Priority: Although not mentioned when
the content and method for CDS implemen- comparing the strategic themes, the project
tation can be inherited as one of the steps in order shows the staged investment priorities
urban planning formulation in Vietnam and quite clearly. This suggests that CDS theory
specifically included in the legal documents. still lacks development scenarios, in order to
Ha Long City implemented a CDS (c) Le Huy

Evaluate methods 21
logically link the proposed actions. If not, the and shows that it is an effective tool for supple-
priority doesn’t have a theoretical foundation, menting the planning works. At the same time,
being mainly based on sentiment. the pilot project also highlights the limitations
Audacity: The proposed projects fit the of the CDS when being applied in Vietnam.
strategic objectives. They are systematic and This is an important breakthrough for the next
quite ambitious. steps to complete the process of CDS.
Feasibility: Requires immediate mobiliza-
tion of significant resources. CDS Product Review in the period 2012-2016
Ability to measure: CDS proposed meth- Audacious approach:
odology and specific indicators for each sector. The logic from “the vision” to “the strategy”:
Connectivity: The formulation of CDS This has been studied intensively, but the way
is organized by the municipal government, it is expressed in the draft does not clarify it.
with comments made by related sectors and in As analyzed above, this can be attributed to the
consultation with the community, but it still lack of specific guidelines from CDS without the
represents the traditional administration. This individual time limitations. From vision (or the
means consultants propose all of the content strategies), the strategic objectives should be set
of CDS, then the departments under the city (with target years for achievements). It is required
government will make comments. The commu- to consider the feasibility and the priority level
nity was involved in surveys and also after the within in the objectives and the limits of the local
CDS output was completed. The consultants governments, resources, opportunities in order
haven’t developed coordination among sectors to develop the strategy.
in collecting statistical figures, and in inputs The logic from “the strategy” to “the project”:
and building strategic themes. So, there is no The draft CDS does not state how the projects
connection with the investors. properly and fully reflected the strategy and most
Implementation arrangement: The projects of them were largely based on feasibility. This
include objectives, content, time frame, specific requires the formulation of scenarios showing the
agencies in charge. However, the capital alloca- interaction between projects and strategies. From
tion hasn’t been provided. this, the proposed projects can demonstrate their
Encouragement: not mentioned. undeniable role in the strategies. There should be
Flexibility: Lack of development scenarios: analysis of the project life cycle so that the cities
there is no guidance on the possibility of the can perform the role of public investment as a
choices of 2, 3 etc when identifying impossible company/enterprise.
options in practice. Lack of analysis for the financial scope and
authority of cities: In the case of Quy Nhon and
2.3.2 Period (2012-2016) Tam Ky, the authority of the two cities is a critical
At this stage under the UN-Habitat project, input for the strategic concepts. It is difficult to
the CDS pilots were implemented in Tam Ky, explain why the proposed projects were modest as
Quy Nhon and the five cities participating in in the draft. Also, determining the requirements
the learning experience. The pilot project at of provincial policies and mechanisms in order
this stage brings out the important steps of to solve the problems of the cities’ authority is
CDS method to clarify the strengths of CDS very difficult.
Priority: that include the basic needs of people covering

The priority projects order clearly show invest- housing, employment, income and the living
ment priorities by stages. environment.
Audacity: Feasibility:
The proposed projects are modest in Quy In general, the proposals presented high feasi-
Nhon. Partly due to the decentralization mech- bility due to the careful research being conducted
anisms limiting local government’s autonomy. In within the resources, powers and the capital
addition, the administrative boundaries of Quy mobilization capability. At the same time the
Nhon city do not reflect its future determined project ensures compliance with the strategy and
in the Quy Nhon City general plan and the vision determined.
surrounding areas. The proposed projects in Tam Ability to measure:
Ky presented audacity and feasibility because this CDS continues to develop a mechanism to
is a young city which is bursting for investment monitor implementation and setting indicators
and development and desires to promote its to measure effects of projects and strategies.
brand name at the national level. Connectivity:
Lack of professional leadership of planning Multi-sector collaboration: Thanks to the
consultants: The CDS has been implemented thematic approach, the multi-sectoral collabora-
meticulously in terms of the mechanism, but the tion is implemented within the permitted limits
officials at city level were assigned to formulate and industry has expressed its role. MSIP was
ideas. The technical team only provided support discussed in the CDS in order to strengthen the
in mapping, collecting baseline data, organizing public-private partnership. Hence, the invest-
conferences and carrying out the training courses. ment regulations will be specified and will ensure
The collective decisions reflected not only their affordability. The budget plans of income and
involvement, but also the limits. Firstly, the CDS expenditure plan will be made.
tended towards the implementation plan of the Investment sources collaboration: CDS pro-
permanent tasks at the city level that are in the vides expected resources and its connection with
charge of the officials. Secondly, CDS presented investors. Some projects have identified funding
the lack of daring decisions because they know sources and were implemented during the CDS
very clearly the difficulties in practice. Thirdly, preparation, for example, the Tam Thanh Mural
the deep understanding of the planning jobs of Village. The business and city forums are the ini-
architects hasn’t been good enough, although the tiatives in this CDS project and they are gradually
officials have been further trained but in a short being established. The projects that are outside
time, they couldn’t absorb sufficient knowledge. the powers of the city will be included in the
Lack of community involvement in for- agenda at the provincial level to determine the
mulating “vision”: The professional groups at ability to perform. Some projects have followed a
the cities formulated the vision in this CDS more audacious path because they were planned
through reviewing the general planning vision in accordance with the the province’s priorities.
and comparing the situation in practices. As Community Links: CDS creates direct con-
discussed above, we believe that the term “vision” nections with CDF. Participating in the activities
shouldn’t be used. It should be replaced by “the of the CDF, people actually become owners. They
strategy”. It must reflect the needs of the parties are able to be invited, to discuss and identify
Evaluate methods 23
matters, decide projects, join the implementation arrangement will depend largely on the institu-
and management process, monitor small projects tionalization of the CDS at the national level.
and upgrade the infrastructure facilities in their Its legitimacy and products must be tasks and
own communities. functions performed by local governments.
Implementation arrangement: Encouragement:
City government’s autonomy: In this stage, During the CDS preparation, CDS has spe-
the pilot CDS pays special attention to participa- cific actions to disseminate the project’s results
tory mechanisms. Moreover, the participation is to the media. Offering rewards and praising
planned as part of the CDS. There are represen- enthusiastic groups continues to be announced,
tatives from the city’s authorities regarding the Flexibility:
planning practice in the executive and technical Lack of the development scenarios, there is no
support teams. The executive team directly pro- guidance on the possibility of the choice of 2, 3
duces the strategic outputs rather than hiring etc. when choosin impossible options in practice.
consultants according to the traditional planning Sustainability of human and environment
method. The residential communities are not only development:
consulted to express their expectations but are The recommendations in CDS must closely
also considered an important part in the imple- follow major topics during the forthcoming
mentation of CDS project. The business and city period. Strategies and projects give a high priority
forums are the initiatives in this CDS project and to environmental protection in the development
they are gradually being established. The CDS process. The environmental protection crite-
was studied according to themes, not following ria aim to control development. Moreover, it
the familiar process of planning. In each theme, is consistent with the development objectives.
the international experts were invited to train The strategies and projects focus on providing
staffs who will formulate CDS. Therefore, the housing, creating jobs, improving qualification
new concept of urban development including the and increasing income of the local workforce. The
application of management tools, etc. was con- top priority is given to the improvement of social
veyed deeply, which assisted in improving urban services for people, in line with the development
management, especially changing the attitudes of urban values .
from “controlling ‘’ into” creating conditions “.
Institutionalization: The CDS has been
approved by the city government. This acts as
a legally valid commitment and ensures that
CDS will be applied in the future. However, the
implementation arrangement on paper will be
quite different from its implementation in prac-
tice because of the current institutional barriers.
CDS implementation is not an obligation of
the municipal government. They only refer to
CDS and incorporate it into their permanent
tasks. Even in this case the project owners can be
changed. Thus the success of the implementation
III
PROMOTING
THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION
OF COMMUNITY-BASED
PARTICIPATORY CDS AT
NATIONAL LEVEL
3.1 APPROACH METHOD 3.2 ROADMAP FOR

PROMOTING THE
Promoting the institutionalization of commu- INSTITUTIONALIZATION
nity-based, participatory CDS at the national OF COMMUNITY BASED
level includes (1) proposing integrated contents PARTICIPATORY CDS AT
and best practices of the strategic planning in NATIONAL LEVEL
the current urban planning process in the period
2016-2020 and (2) reviewing and proposing Promoting the institutionalization of commu-
additional adjustment of related legal documents nity-based, participatory CDS at the national
relating to the formulation and implementation level:
of urban planning towards the integrated urban • Stage I: The test stage at the local level from
planning methods in the period 2020-2030 and 2006 to 2016: Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City,
(3) establishing the national forum to promote Nam Dinh, Ha Long, Can Tho, Tam Ky, Quy
the institutionalization of the integrated plan- Nhon;
ning approach. • Stage II: 2016-2020: Learn the best practices
The good experiences learned from the nine of the CDS to integrate into the process of
pilot CDS projects (including Hai Phong, Ho formulation and implementation of the current
Chi Minh City, Nam Dinh, Ha Long, Can Tho, Urban Planning;
Tam Ky, Quy Nhon) will be integrated into • Stage III: 2020-2030 review and propose
the current urban planning process as follows: additional adjustments to the legal documents
• To involve the community in the planning in the field of construction planning and urban
process. planning.
• To develop forums to exchange and carry out
“new” initiatives for local economic develop-
ment, livelihood, adaptation to climate change, 3.3 ANALYSIS OF
natural resources management of local govern- STRENGTHS AND
ment, partners (both domestic and foreign, the WEAKNESSES OF THE
State and private), community. CURRENT METHOD OF
• To mobilize social resources through the URBAN PLANNING
identification of strategic projects and commit- FORMULATION AND
ments from partners. MANAGEMENT
In Vietnam, urban planning mainly serves as

tools for plans and development programmes
of the State agencies. Therefore, the contents
of urban planning only aim at organizing and
building the urban space. Planning architects
in Vietnam often do design work, offer the
organization and construction of the urban
space consistent with policies. The basis of
plans are often the directives and decisions,
Promoting the institutionalization of community-based 27
and investment policies approved by leaders efficiency of livability, sustainable natural

of ministries and governmental agencies. The resources, access to urban services, the level of
current status of urban development only further safety for investment and promoting investment
clarifies solutions identified by the lead agencies. opportunities in the international competitive
This causes many ministries and agencies for environment.
state management to become planners, because
they have rights to issue documents, regulations The process has been inherited from the results
and requirements; establish projects and devel- of the project titled: The urban planning for-
opment plans; decide the investment contents mulation and management capacity building
of urban land use - as the basis for plans - while (CUPCUP) implemented by JICA and VIUP
they aren’t dominated by local communities as in 2012, which clarified the process and the con-
well as other social groups. Since there are no tents to be implemented at every step to ensure
public agencies that have the ability to control the participation of the community and stake-
or take responsibility for the quality of plans. holders, build a forum to exchange ideas and
Plans are usually formulated inconsistently, implement ‘new’ ideas (flexibility), and mobilize
lacking sound bases and effectiveness in solving social resources through identifying strategic
urban problems. projects and commitments from partners.
Political stability has created favorable con-
ditions for the comprehensive institutionalizied
planning work, which establishes methods and
have enough time to be practiced, to finalize the
planning processes and complete the standards
and codes. That process has created a team of
experts who have deep knowledge in the plan-
ning field and also produced a complicated and
specialized implementation process.
The planning work indicates the deep inter-
vention of the upper level in the tasks of the
lower level. The management system includes
multi-levels, seriously conservative, underde-
veloped decentralization and devolving some
powers of central government to lower levels.
By contrast, the sectoral and ministeral levels
have managed plans independently with a lack
of multi-sectoral collaboration. Plans have only
represented the intentions of authorities. They
do not reflect the expectation of stakeholders,
so the power of all citizens is not mobilized.
However, general urban plans for urban
management and development have produced
little or no results for modern cities and the
3.4 THE INTEGRATING Current situation assessment and the urban

PROCESS OF CDS INTO development premises
GENERAL URBAN PLANNING This step consists of the following four main
tasks: (i) Collect data, (ii) build the data-
3.4.1 Integrate stakeholders’ participation base, (iii) analyze the current situation and
into the current situation assessment and (iv) identify the premises. These steps to be
the determination of urban development associated closely together and be implemented
premises together to ensure high efficiency.
BẢNG 1 The process of integrating CDS into General Urban Planning
PART TASK
Part A A1. Planning Tasks Task 1 Review Existing and Related Plans to Determine Clear
Planning Tasks Formulation Basis for Planning
Formulation
Task 2 Prepare Planning Task (TOR)
and Planning
Process A2. General Task 1 Establish Implementation Mechanism
Management Planning Process
Organization Management Task 2 Prepare Detailed Work Plan
Preparation Organization
Preparation
Part B B1. Situation Task 1 Data Collection

Situation Analysis and lssues
Analysis Identification
Task 2 Database Building
and City Task 3 Situation Analysis
Development
Task 4 Issues Identification
Strategies
B2. Vision and Task 1 Vision and Goal Setting
Development
Task 2 Formulation of Development Framework
Framework
Formulation Task 3 Basic Development Strategies and Orientations
Task 4 Estimate Land Use Demand
Part C C1. Spatial Plan Task 1 Regional Integration

General Plan Formulation
Task 2 Environmental Zoning
Formulation
Task 3 Urban Growth Scenarios
Task 4 Public Consultation
Task 5 Urban Structure Concept
Task 6 Land Use Plan
Task 7 Define Functional Zone and Orientation

Task 8 Formulate Urban Centers Development Orientation
Task 9 Formulate Rural Residential Area Development Orientation
Task 10 Identify Areas for Urban Design
C2. Urban Task 1 Assessment of Land Conditions for Urban Infrastructure
Infrastructure
Task 2 Transport Development Orientation
Orientation
Formulation Task 3 Technical Infrastructure Development Orientation
C3. Strategic
Environmental
Assessment (SEA)
C4. Key Urbant Task 1 Elaboration of Gap Analysis
Facilities
Task 2 Selection of Systems
Task 3 Formulation of Key Urban Facility Plan
C5. Control Task 1 Specification of Target Land Use and Environ-
Requirements for ment at Zone Level
Zone Plan
Task 2 Detailed Study on Use Zone Boundary
Task 3 Formulation of Use Zone Table
Task 4 1
C6. Identification Task 1 Identification of Areas for Special Attention
of Special Purpose
Task 2 Detailed Study on the Identified Areas
Zones
Task 3 Specification of Boundary for Special Purpose Zone
C7. Project Priority Task 1 Formulate Projects/ Actions
Identification
Task 2 Prioritize Projects/ Actions
Task 3 Package Projects/ Actions into Strategic Programs
Task 4 Make Necessary Arrangements for Implementation
Part D D1. Consolidation Task 1 Prepare General Plan Documents

Formulation of and Establishment
Task 2 Prepare General Plan Map
City of City
Management Management
Regulation Regulations based
based on General Plan
on General
D2. Plan Task 1 Establish Monitoring Evaluation Framework
Plan
and Plan Implementation
Task 2 Conduct Monitoring Activities
Implementation Monitoring
Monitoring Task 3 Conduct Public Hearing and Survey
Task 4 Feedback to Policies, General Plan and Programs/
Projects
(i) Data collection with effective participation process. Hence, consideration should be given
- The participation of State management to ensuring “standardization”, “electronization”
agencies: coordinating with the authorities on and “dissemination” of data.
planning, Economy - Urban centers, Natural An electronic database is open, creating
Resources and Environment, Invalids and Social more favorable conditions for the access of the
Affairs, Transportation ... to check the data: parties, from which follows participation in the
• Policies and Planning planning process.
• Maps showing the current or previous The entire formulation of the database
conditions system of urban planning should be discussed
• Data of the General Statistics Office, with the relevant organizations on the manage-
People’s Committee of provinces and People’s ment and provision of public services in the city.
Committee of cities, districts, communes and Building database of urban planning:
wards. One of the important roles of a database
The participation of the community: for urban planning is the dissemination of data
the information and data gathered from the necessary for individuals or organizations in the
survey is very useful in analysis and planning. form of maps, graphs or tables at the right place
A number of important types of investigations and right time. Local governments all over the
are proposed, such as survey and interview from world have applied this technology to share data.
households. These surveys are also the most effi-
cient way to collect opinions and reviews of the (iii ) Analysis of the current situation with
people, leaders of wards/commune. This is how the participation of parties
to enhance the participation of the community The analysis of the current situation is a task
in the development and management of the city. in urban planning requiring serious concen-
Synthesis of assessment results of the current tration. Without comprehensive and detailed
situation reflects the participation and contri- analysis of the current situation, it is difficult
bution of the parties: to properly implement the next planning steps.
• It is required to synthesize data under a This preliminary analysis framework can be
suitable format in order for it to not only be established very early in the planning stages
used by planners, but also help people, local on the basis of cooperation between planning
leaders, business groups, tourists and investors experts and localities, based on the experience
easily understand the conditions of the city. and knowledge accumulated on urban centers.
• For a comprehensive analysis of the current It can be carried out as follows:
situation, it is required to collect data accord- • The process of formulation and use of urban
ing to the development under time and space indicators contributes to promoting public aware-
(comparison between areas in the city). ness of the current situation: For each sector or
industry, formulate a separate set of indicators
(ii) Formulation of database with effective on the basis of data collected. A good set of
participation indicators will show the performance of the city
The good database is the basis ensuring plan- and promote public awareness of the current
ning quality and facilitating general awareness situation among the parties concerned.
among the relevant parties about the planning • The thematic GIS maps will be tools supporting
the reflection of each issue concerned in localities evaluation is compared to the objective data
(commune or ward level) in the city, based on to achieve the best results.
data collected from existing sources and results
of additional investigation. Once the basic (iv) Identifying the issues and development
maps with the GIS technology are prepared, premise should be shared with stakeholders
these can be applied in many ways, facilitating The results of the analysis should be shared
analysis of the current situation and planning with stakeholders.
according to the issues concerned of the locality. The identified step is used to clarify issues
• Reflecting properly the living conditions of affecting the city at sector level and multi-sec-
the people through the survey and interview toral needs to be concerned in the short term
results from households, offering useful infor- and long term, and from there to build program
mation, updates about the living conditions planning. Issues must be identified with regard
and infrastructure services at the ward and to: (i) competitiveness and sustainability of the
communal level. city economy; (ii) effective urban management
The main characteristic of a SWOT anal- and growth management; (iii) safe and attrac-
ysis is the evaluation done by the planning tive living environment; (iv) conversation and
expert with the participation of stakeholders. restoration of natural resources, and (v) cultural
This is the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, and historical values.
opportunities and challenges of the current It is not easy to identify the development
conditions for urban development. The eval- premise and share this with stakeholders. This
uation is achieved through a combination of is a chance to show the value and demand of
factors involving assessing available data using people and stakeholders in a city in term of
the experience of the expert. The subjective future image of the city and community. This
Mobilising community participation in the CDS process (c) Ha Nguy

premise needs to be assessed cooperatively: and take advantages of external opportunities as

(a) Review and take account of the relevance well as to pursue strategies to overcome weak-
of existing plans and programs laid down by the nesses and threats.
government, finance obligations and national/
international commitments regarding urban 3.4.2 Integrating development strategies in
development or local policies to assess role and urban development orientation
position of a city. This section is the new petition for the general
(b) Assessment of regional development planning process, in order to formulate major
impacts to identify the development prem- orientations for the development of the city,
ise: policies, the legal framework, objectives, which are useful for urban management, and for
programme and project, administration man- simultaneously creating a solid basis for general
agement sharing and function between areas planning together with space development and
in a region. socio-economic development.
(c) It is sometimes seen in many cities that In order to ensure sustainability for long-
existing plans do not match the actual situation. term vision and basic development orientation,
Due to policies, the higher level can impact these processes and products of this step should
on urban planning in many aspects. Therefore be shared widely with the parties related in the
compatibility between the two levels should city. This step becomes increasingly important
be considered. in modern urban planning because it deter-
“SWOT analysis” analyzes comprehensively mines the basic direction for the future city
aspects and different areas of a municipality. development.
This is a useful method to analyze the current This step is to establish a vision, develop an
state of a systematic way to identify the issues orientation and forecast the underlying devel-
that need attention. The objective of SWOT opment framework for urban development of
analysis is to identify the main internal factors the city in terms of the economy and society,
(subjective) and external factors (objective) to environment and spatial development, including
help achieve goals. the following contents:
Internal strengths can be used to take advan- (i) Determining the vision and objective:
tage of external opportunities or to overcome Determining the development objectives
external threats. SWOT analysis should be con- of the city on the basis of the participation of
ducted for each sector. the parties.
• Strength: Internal positive conditions/ (ii) Preparing development framework:
natural resources Common vision and objective of the city
• Weaknesses: Internal negative resources/ shall be supported by the basic development
conditions framework, including a set of basic indicators
• Opportunities: Positive externalities that related to sustainable development and growth.
can be used (iii) Establishing basic development
• Threats: Negative externalities that can orientations/strategies:
be harmful In order to achieve the common vision
The SWOT analysis is performed as a partic- and objective, it is required to establish the
ipatory assessment to guide the formulation of basic development strategies and orientations
strategies that can make use of internal strengths for the main areas such as society, economy,
environment, urban growth, spatial develop- Establishing vision is the process whereby
ment, infrastructure layout, urban management. the city brings out the future vision and trans-
(iv) Demand on land use: Because land is fers that vision into action plans. The model of
the most valuable resource and the foundation establishing vision with the participation of the
for spatial planning, it is necessary to prelimi- parties facilitates linkages between the areas and
narily estimate future land use demand to ensure the traditional culture. A participatory vision
sustainable growth and development for the city. may be implemented by the local government,
including the following main characteristics:
Determining common vision and objectives (i) Helping understand the entire community,
(a) The importance of establishing vision associating problems on the future develop-
Urban development is a dynamic and complex ment with the community and the key related
process, it is necessary to predict the future objects; (ii) Reflecting the core values of the
demand of urban areas through the determina- community; (iii) Addressing the trends and
tion of gap/inadequacy between current basic issues newly arising, helping make the actual
conditions and conditions desired in the future, forecast; (iv) Outlining the appropriate devel-
determining immediate and long-term issues in opment in the future and making a declaration
economic development and urban management. stating a common image of the community
Therefore, urban centers are required to have desired to achieve in the long-term future; and
a clear and long-term vision with the consent (v) Promoting local actions.
and agreement of the stake holders.
The model of establishing vision with participation:
1. Reflecting the core values of the community
2. Addressing issues, trends and making the actual forecast
3. Outlining the future and image of the community desired
4. Promoting local actions
A Good vision declaration should include the following characteristics:
5. Inspiring
The vision should promote commitments and stimulate optimistic spirit. The vision is the
driving force even in the most difficult time.
6. Easy to understand
The vision should be clear, use simple words, be charismatic and persuasive in order the
concerning people can understand and attempt to achieve.
7. Characteristics and difference

The vision should be developed based on specific characteristics compared to other cities
and regions. Review and discuss the vision.
(b). The methods of establishing vision: (d) Establishment of sustainable development

The city must first decide to establish a vision objectives
and prepare methods so that the vision can be Common objectives are established based on
shared with related parties. The city should the basic core values forming the vision of the
establish a steering committee or working group city. This vision is transformed into more spe-
to facilitate and declare the vision. The vision cific objectives to ensure the realization of that
declaration method may adopt one or more of vision in the context of sustainable development.
the following measures: Establishment of basic development
• Surveying and interviewing households, framework/criteria
• Consulting the relevant records, The common objectives of urban devel-
• Organizing workshops, opment will come with a basic development
• Interviewing. framework. Accordingly, this will provide quan-
• titative targets as a basis for detailed planning.
(c). Methods: At this stage, the framework development only
• Surveying and interviewing households is an includes basic indicators such as future popula-
effective method to listen to the opinions of people tion, economic growth, poverty etc. The basic
living in the city, representing the various eco- criteria are selected with the expectation of
nomic - social sectors, who can speak their views. expressing the sustainable development objec-
• Meetings/workshops of related parties (2)to tives towards the vision and, as a stimulus, these
discuss and concretize the vision: Based on the provide basic directions for urban planning.
opinions of the people obtained from interviewing
households, may organize meetings/workshops of Strategies and basic directions
related parties to discuss and concretize the vision. The strategy is a collection of actions, the
• Summary of discussions results into a common approach to the future including things such
vision for the city: City leaders must reflect and as: (i) considering the current situation and the
synthesize discussion results among the parties factors forecasted to be related to the environ-
related into the vision for the city. ment inside and outside the city; (ii) building
• Dissemination of information: Bringing the a new or effective vision script in a creative
vision developed out into the open to achieve way; and (iii) arranging policies, measures and
common understanding among the parties resources to implement that vision.
The basic strategies/directions
(2) Related party is a common term in the planning and public Urban development objectives obtained
management policies. Related parties are individuals or orga- from the previous step should be further concret-
nizations related to or obtain the interest in resolving the issues
raised. The related party is different to the community that it is ized into a set of strategies for implementation
a social group including members living in the same area. of those objectives. The strategies make the
sense of connecting the vision with common
objectives using the specific projects or actions,
including: (i) social strategies: demography,
education, health, housing, employment and
living conditions; (ii) economic strategies:
agriculture, forestry and fisheries, industry,
services, communications, investment, etc.; minimum” is corresponding to projects that

(iii) environmental strategies: land use, environ- meet the basic needs of the population, “the
mental protection before pollution (air, water, basic” is corresponding to projects to be per-
soil, etc.; disaster prevention and coping with formed if they are projects with saving costs,
climate change; (iv) infrastructure strategies, and “the strategic” is to imply projects with
space development, transportation, technical long-term strategic vision for the development
infrastructure, etc.; and (v) institutions: organi- of the city.
zation, regulation and application, finance, etc..
Grouping of projects/plans into strategic
3.4.3 Integrating priority areas, projects with programs,
the possible funding sources and internal Establishing the approach to implementa-
capacity of local authorities tion of the program to deploy the planning.
The implementation of comprehensive urban This approach is to establish an integrated
development planning requires the coordina- program to achieve synchronized efficiency of
tion of elements of space, materials, flexibility, the individual projects with the priority deter-
society and economy and environment, as well mined in the list of projects. If “the project” is
as requiring innovative management of finance a component of “the planning” and “strategy”
and human resources, structure and institutional in order to achieve the objectives and pur-
procedures, and management, establishment of poses, then “the program” is a set of projects
priority projects and programs with appropriate and actions that can strengthen the efficiency
budget and institutional arrangements (through of the "plan" and "strategy".
possible funding sources and internal capacity The strategic program is identified in a
of local authorities). matrix summarizing common objectives, spe-
cific objectives, strategies, programs and projects
Establishing projects/action plans with a specific location (expressed on maps),
Based on general planning and sector timeframe, the estimated costs and agencies
plannings related to identifying projects and implementing proposals of general projects/
actions, the projects and actions are defined programs. The matrix provides key input data
as follows: for planning implementation.
• The projects and actions are determined by
the way that they are important components Make Necessary Arrangements for
of the plannings and strategies, contributing to Implementation
achieving the development vision and objectives Three elements are indispensable: (i) organi-
in the future. zation/ human resource; (ii) institutional/legal
• The projects and actions determined should arrangement; and (iii) finance. All elements are
ensure compliance with the current institutions closely related to urban plan management, in
without leading to conflicts on legality and which governments, private sectors and com-
management. munities are involved.
• These projects can be classified into the
minimum, basic and strategic projects. “the
3.4.4 Integrate the planning monitoring and reality compared to spatial planning.
implementing assessment for urban manage- • Develop a project implementation super-
ment according to general urban plans vision system for these projects and goals. This
The main purpose of this step is to provide a is to ensure projects are approved in time with
systematic feedback mechanism throughout the planned indicators and goals.
implementation of a plan through programs • Compliance of supervision results in peri-
and projects. Properly established, supervision odic supervision reports of land use changes
results directly contribute to the evaluation of and other results of the project to provide input
programs and projects at different levels - inputs, information for planning evaluation.
activities, outputs, products and influence. By
this, it is possible to adjust the implementation Conduct public hearing and survey
as per supervised results and evaluations. Doing To assess the satisfaction level of the people
supervision well also provides valuable data with the general plan, the implementation of
inputs, especially if the data is design to support single projects and the implementation of each
existing databases. sector, public hearing is significant. Local gov-
- Workflow and outputs ernments or private developers periodically issue
• Monitoring is in practice a field research project newsletter, organize meeting for public
activity. It is meant to generate real data on hearing if there are any problems during project
performance levels and land use changes over implementation such as noise, traffic congestion,
time. The activities are designed to define an social conflicts, etc.
analytical framework, use survey tools, gather
raw data and process them for results. Feedback to policies, general plan and
- The monitoring/evaluation framework is based programs/projects
on the following contents: The compilation of indicators and feedback
• Compliance with the general plan using implementation to improve the contents of a
growth boundaries, zoning, key urban facilities; general plan as well as pr ojects, program and
- The system and procedures of supervision are implementation policies.
influenced by the changes in terms of land use According to the Urban Planning Law of
and project supervision system. Viet Nam the general plan and the zoning plan
• Identification of the organization structure need to be revised every 5 years (Article 46). If
of supervision groups for project implementa- there are dynamic changes of socio-economic
tion at city level and local level; collaboration and physical conditions of the city, the plan
with state and private participants. needs to be revised (Article 47).
• Establish standardized data and ratings for It is assumed that the administrative
two data sets: (1) changes in land use; (2) proj- boundary of a medium-size city is sometimes
ect results, create criteria for input information, readjusted by consolidation of municipalities.
output and results for the aforementioned data For this, urban planning areas should cover not
set. only the present administrative boundary of the
• Develop a system and procedures for the city but also adjoining areas into which where
supervision of land use changes to inspect the there will be expansion in future to formulate
integrity of land use development programs in the comprehensive urban plan to manage both
urban and rural areas. So it will be easy for new population size, land area, and basic indicators
expanded areas to comply with the general plan on social and technical infrastructure of the
of the city. city; development model, development struc-
ture of intra-city and suburb spaces (including
underground space); organization of urban
3.5 REVIEW AND PROPOSE space, central systems, social infrastructure
ADDITIONAL ADJUSTMENT facilities; orientation of the system of technical
TO LEGAL SYSTEM RELATING infrastructure facilities; strategic environmental
TO THE LAW ON assessment; priority investment programs and
CONSTRUCTION AND THE resources for implementation.
LAW ON URBAN PLANNING • The approved general plan serves as the
basis for development of zoning planning,
The current legal documents and regulations detailed planning of zones, and development of
on urban planning and development: investment project on technical infrastructure
• Law on Urban Planning - 2009 for the city.
• Decree No. 37/2010 / ND-CP dated
07/4/2010 on the formulation, appraisal, Comments:
approval and management of urban planning; • General planning project formulation is
• Decree No. 38/2010 / ND-CP dated a top-down process, planning projects must
07/4/2010 on management of space, architec- comply with national and local policies and
ture, urban landscape; orientations, in accordance with higher-level
• Decree 11/2013 / ND-CP on January planning, sectoral planning; the approved gen-
14, 2013 investment management of urban eral plan serves as the basis for formulation of
development; zoning planning, detailed planning and invest-
• Resolution 1210/2016 / dated 05.25.2016 ment projects. Hence, it appears to be rigid,
UBTVQH13 about urban classification; inflexible and difficult in adjusting plans when
the actual situation of implementation changes.
3.5.1. General planning process • Planning seems to put the main focus on
Law on Urban Planning perfunctory indicators, and lack of consider-
• Article 24. Bases for making urban plans: ations of development strategy.
1. Approved strategies and master plans on • There is no available provisions on urban
socio-economic development, defense and vision based on comprehension and consensus
security, orientations of the master plan on of the community, together identifying and
the national system of urban centers, regional selecting priority goals on health care, security,
construction planning and higher-level urban employment, housing, education, transport and
planning. 2. Approved sector planning. 6. environment. On the other hand, the planning
Socio-economic documents and data on related project has not provided strategies focusing
localities and sectors. on short-term targets based on initiatives and
• Articles 25, 26, 27, 28 stipulate contents awareness of capacity, determination of stake-
of general plans, including the indication of holders; not clearly identifying priority actions
development objectives and driving force, which could be immediately taken in order to
cope with problems and challenges, but with organizations, etc. to collect comments of con-
promising results; cerned agencies, organizations, individuals and
• Orientations for space development are communities on urban planning tasks and urban
inflexible based on possibly incorrect forecasts plans. Such comments muts be fully collected,
about urban development scale, which could summarized, explained, reported to competent
lead to waste of land, unfocused and ineffective authorities for consideration before approval of
investment resources. urban planning.
• Therefore, there is need to have amend- - Article 21. stipulates forms and time of col-
ments in legal documents on formulation of lecting comments
urban general plans to assure more flexible • Concerned agencies, organizations and
and practical planning projects. Assessment individuals shall be consulted in the form of
studies should adequately reflect capacity, sending dossiers and documents, or holding
issues and expectations of the community. conferences or workshops. Consulted agencies
Planning projects should present the long- and organizations shall give written replies.
term vision with selected targets and should • The collection of comments of residential
formulate strategic projects which are feasi- communities on general planning tasks and
ble, based on the initiatives and commitments plans shall be conducted by consulting their
of stakeholders in order to achieve outcomes representative in the form of distributing survey
in the short run to cope with current issues. questionnaires and interviews. Residential
community representatives shall summarize
3.5.2. Participation of stakeholders in the comments of their communities in accordance
planning process: with the law on grassroots democracy
1. Law on Urban Planning - Articles 53, 54, 55. stipulate publicization and
- Article 8. Rights and responsibilities of agencies, provision of information on urban planning
organizations and individuals in commenting
on and supervising urban planning activities: Comments:
• Domestic organizations and individuals The Law on Urban Planning gives provisions on
have the right to comment on and supervise participation of communities in urban planning.
urban planning activities. Article 8 stipulates “Rights and responsibilities
• Organizations and individuals have the duty of agencies, organizations and individuals in
to comment on issues related to their operations commenting on and supervising urban planning
in urban planning activities. activities”, which covers urban planning activities
• Agencies and organizations responsible for and mentions participation of all stakeholders.
urban planning activities shall create conditions However, specific provisions in Articles 20 and
for commenting on and supervising urban 21 of this Law indicate unclearly participation
planning activities. of communities. The Law on Urban Planning
• Comments of organizations and individuals does not indicate specifically and clearly roles,
on urban planning activities must be summa- power and responsibilities of communities in
rized, reviewed and publicized. urban planning. Citizens have the right to deci-
- Article 20. Stipulates Responsibilities of sion on approving urban planning project or
managing agencies, investors, consultancy not? What is the role of comments of citizens
in approving an urban planning project? How areas, the provincial-level People's Committees
are ideas and experience of investors incor- shall publicize the urban development areas and
porated in such planning project? Basically, implementation plans to provide information
participation of communities only remains in to investors for their consideration, selection
the form of information provision (stipulated and decisions on investment in such project.
in Articles 53, 54 and 55), which is the lowest Comments:
level of “participation”. The Decree on urban development investment
2. Decree No. 38/2010/ND-CP dated 7th is closely related to investors and residential
April 2010 on management of urban space, communities, and the important role of State
architecture and landscape. administration, in order to assure appropriate
- Article 24 Formulation, approval, promul- rights of investors, residential communities, and
gation and announcement of regulations on to mobilize social resources for urban develop-
management of urban planning and architecture. ment sustainably. However, provisions of the
• Clause 2 : "Regulations on management Decree do not mention active roles of investors
of urban planning and architecture must be and communities, they only indicate the infor-
widely distributed in printed publications and mation provision for reference and selection.
announced in the mass media"; An urban planning project normally involves
• Clause 4 requires provisions applicable to four major stakeholders, namely the State, inves-
specific urban areas, streets and street lines tors, consultancy organizations and residential
specified in a regulation must be commented communities. Clear stipulation on responsi-
by concerned agencies and organizations and bilities, duties, rights and power of each party
communities in those areas. could assure consensus, trust and maximization
of community’s strength in realizing shared goals
Comments: in urban development.
Regulations on management of space, architec- Legal documents on urban planning stipulate
ture and landscape stipulate that formulation provisions on participation of the community
of regulations must collect comments of the in urban planning by “collecting comments
community in the directly affected area, but of agencies, organizations, individuals and
there is no provision on how those comments residential communities related to urban plan-
are collected, or fed back. Participation of com- ning tasks and project” in the forms of survey
munity mainly covers information provision for questionnaires and interviews. Additionally,
reference and for compliance with stipulated legal documents also indicate responsibilities
regulations. of agencies, organizations in providing infor-
mation and publicizing planning project to
3. Decree No. 11/2013/ND-CP dated 14th individuals, organizations and citizens. Such
January 2013 regarding investment manage- regulations present low-level participation of the
ment of Urban Development. community. Involvement of stakeholders must
- Article 12. Publication of urban development be institutionalized more openly, with more
area and implementation plan effective forms toward cooperation between
• Stipulates that within 30 days since the planners and government, communities and
decision on approving the urban development investors in the formulation of more feasible
urban development projects, promoting roles • Promptly publishing and providing free
of communities in drawing the urban devel- of charge information on the planning and
opment vision. deployment plan of urban development area.
• Supporting the investment in projects to
3.5.3 Priority projects and resources for devel- strengthen the capacity of public services to
opment investment the area.
Decree No. 11/2013/ND-CP: Investment 3. Other incentive cases as prescribed by law.
Management of Urban development Article 35. Investment in building social
- Article 5: Investment capital for urban infrastructure
development areas includes: the state budget, 1. Investors must build comprehensive social
official development aid (ODA) and capital infrastructure, with the schedule in line with the
from other economic sectors. Provincial-level housing building, ensuring quality of service to
People's Committees are entitled to use existing meet the needs of the people to live.
investment funds (including: local develop- 2. Where the local government cannot allo-
ment investment fund, land development fund, cate budget to build this project in accordance
infrastructure development fund, housing devel- with the original plan of the project, the investor
opment funds) to create investment funds for shall implement the construction construction
urban development areas. investment of these works in appropriate form
(such as Build- Transfer, Build-Own- Operate ).
- Article 6. Encouragement, support and incen- Comments: It requires mechanisms to enforce
tive for investment in urban development policies because the power of cities is limited
projects and depends on the provincial level. Cities can
1. The State provides policies to encour- propose major programs but when they are tied
age, support and favor the urban development to the urban development programs, they often
investment projects with one or more of the haven’t as yet been implemented because there
following criteria: were no funds, which lead to failure in imple-
• Investing in construction of framework mentation. The autonomous mechanism on
technical infrastructure, social infrastructure urban financing should be offered through par-
to serve the public interest without capital liamentary dialogue at the National Assembly.
recovery and not in the list of the buildings To create capital source and active rights to
in which the investors are required to invest; create capital, the mechanism of public services
• Investing in public housing, relocation or companies performing services of public
housing, and renovating and rebuilding resi- administration is encouraged. City authorities
dential areas, old condominiums in accordance have the tendency to be a business model that
with the law; offers financial services. New projects or suc-
• Investing in housing construction for lease; cessful models of public services on a small scale
• Investing in construction of buildings with are promoted. Social benefits are maximized
application of new technologies which are envi- but not profit maximization. However, it is
ronmentally friendly. required to provide working expenses. This
2. The State has supporting policies model is performed under the market economy
including: mechanisms. Urban plans are used to create the
land value. Identifying and borrowing funds space, architecture and landscape, Section 3
aims to invest in infrastructure facilities which management and use of urban land, Section 4
are then provided to investors. Management of land reserved for the construc-
tion of systems of urban technical infrastructure
3.5.4 Organization of realization of urban facilities, Section 5. Management of construc-
planning tion according to urban planning; Articles from
Law on Urban Planning in 2009 58 to 73.
Chapter 5, Section 1, Article 54-57 includes Section 2: Management of urban space, archi-
the following contents: tecture and landscape
• Publicize general plans, urban planning • The People's Committees of cities, towns
management agencies have responsibility to and townships shall comprehensively manage
fully update the implementing situation of urban space, architecture and landscape within
urban plans. the administrative boundaries under their
• Provide information on urban planning: management.
bases for general plans, urban design and • Regulations on management of urban
regulations of urban planning management planning and architecture (must conform
consistent with approved projects A planning with promulgated urban plans, regulations
certificate contains information on the bound- on management according to urban plan and
ary of the lot of land, land use function, area, urban design).
red-line boundary and construction markers, • Basic regulations on licensing new construc-
construction density, land use co-efficient, tion, renovation, embellishment, landscape
standard construction ground floor level and design, basesforplanning tasks, urban design
maximum and minimum heights of works; for areas without approved urban plans and
information on architecture, technical infra- approved urban design.
structure system, environmental protection • Specific regulations.
and other regulations. • General Plans: Article 15, (5.a), Article 16(
• Placement of markers according to urban (d,e), Article 17 (4,d,đ), Zoning plans Article
planning (boundaries of non-construction 19 (4), Detailed plans Article 20 (4)
areas)
Comments: There is need for innovation Section 3: Management and use of urban land
to adapt to changing conditions in the local • Land funds for urban development.
political economy, climate change and urban • Organize ground clearance for areas already
competitiveness, non-border and improving planned for the construction of technical and
the efficiency of state management. social infrastructure facilitiesinterests in line
with approved and publicized detailed planning.
3.5.5 Supervision mechanism and planning • The recovery of land funds and compensation.
implementation evaluation • Ensure that investors must comply with
Law on Urban Planning 2009 urban and investment plans.
Chapter V: Urban development management • Organize recovery of land along both sides
must conform with promulgated urban plans of roads according to planning and hold auc-
including Section 2. Management of urban tions or bidding to select investors
• Projects ensure suitability with the present on the construction of concentrated works
status of land use. in urban areas without zoning and planning,
• The State shall recover and pay compensa- Investment projects on the construction of indi-
tion to land area failing to meet construction vidual works in urban areas without detailed
requirements or affecting urban architecture planning or urban design, except houses.
and landscape. • Management of development of new urban
• After the detailed planning is approved and centers and urban quarters
publicized, pending the recovery by the State, • Management of renovation or urban centers
organizations and individuals in the planned according to planning
area may continue using it and conducting • Legal framework for urban management
renovation, repair and temporary construction. in the 21 century
The other articles stipulate responsibility of
Section 4: Management of land reserved for authorities at all levels in the promulgation of
the construction of systems of urban technical regulations, implementation arrangement and
infrastructure facilities: supervision of the urban construction and devel-
• Land reserved for the construction of the opment in accordance with approved plans and
system of urban technical infrastructure facil- regulations that communities must comply with:
ities: includes land for the construction of key
works, lines or networks of technical infrastruc- - Article 46. Review of urban planning.
ture and land within the scope of protection 1. Urban planning shall be periodically
and safety corridors. reviewed and evaluated in the course of imple-
• Investment in the construction of the system mentation so as to be promptly adjusted in
of technical infrastructure facilities must ensure response to the socio-economic development
synchronism under planning and the schedule situation in each period.
of implementing urban development projects. General planning and zoning planning shall
• Management of trees, parks, natural land- be reviewed once every five years and detailed
scape and water surface: Lakes and natural planning once every 3 years, counting from the
water surface must not be encroached upon date they are approved.
or other terrain characteristics must not be 2. People's Committees at all levels shall
altered to prevent bad impacts on urban natural review approved urban planning.
conditions and landscape. 3. Urban planning review results shall be
reported in writing to agencies with urban plan-
Section 5: Management of construction accord- ning-approving competence.
ing to urban planning 4. Based on the socio-economic development
• Comply with approved detailed plans. and factors affecting the urban development
• Sites recommended for construction invest- process, agencies with urban planning-approv-
ment must be in line with urban planning and ing competence shall decide to adjust urban
suitable to the scope and nature of investment planning.
and save urban land, without affecting urban
development and environment. - Article 47 Conditions on adjustment of urban
• Planning licenses: Investment projects planning.
An urban plan may be adjusted in any of the State management agencies take responsibilities.
following cases: The participation of the community is to know
1. There is an adjustment to the strategy or about information and enforcement, which is
master plan on socio-economic development, the lowest level of participation.
defense and security, orientations of the master State agencies perform the evaluation on
plan on the national system of urban centers, the implementation of plans. The reviews and
regional construction planning, higher-level evaluations of a plan are made every 5 years for
urban planning and administrative boundaries general plans and every 3 years for detailed plans.
greatly affecting the nature, function and size
of the urban center or planned area; 3.5.6 Reviewing and recommending addi-
2. A key project of national importance is tional adjustment for legal documents relating
formed, which greatly affects urban land use, to construction planning and urban planning
environment and spatial and architectural layout; The regulations on construction planning and
3. The urban planning cannot be real- urban planning should supplement new fac-
ized or its realization is adversely affecting the tors to ensure a focus towards improving the
socio-economic development, defense, security, development management process and urban
socio-welfare, ecological environment, historical planning in line with a developing and dynamic
or cultural relics according to review or evalua- economy, in particular:
tion results and community opinions;
4. There is a change in climate, geological - The participation of parties in the process of
or hydrological conditions; assessing the current situation and identifying
5. Serving national and community interests. the premise of urban development, the partic-
ipants and consultants should include multiple
- Article 51. Order of partial adjustment of objects such as all state agencies, stakeholders
urban planning like the community agencies, private investors
1. Agencies responsible for urban planning and citizens.
shall report on contents and plans on partial • Supplement the participatory processes of
adjustment of urban planning and organize parties in the process of assessing the current
meetings to collect opinions of population com- situation and identifying the premise of urban
munities in areas with planning to be adjusted development. The participants and consultants
and in adjacent areas to be directly affected, then should include multiple objects such as all
submit them to agencies with urban planning State agencies, stakeholders like the commu-
approving competence for consideration. nity agencies, private investors and citizens.
2. Agencies with urban planning-approving Consultation content, methods and tools in
competence shall consider and decide on partial consultation should be specified for each object
adjustment in writing on the basis of opinions to ensure gather the appropriate and useful
of urban planning-evaluating agencies. information for planning.
• Conduct household interviews and ward/
Comment: The mechanism of supervising commune surveys are considered very import-
plan implementation is specified in Chapter V ant to collect the necessary data and information
of the Law on urban planning. Accordingly, for urban planning. However this is difficult to
obtain from existing statistics. The results of certain competitive positions will make the city
household interviews give useful information different from the others and create a unique
on living conditions and infrastructure services separate image.
at ward, commune levels.
• All maps processed, including original data, - Identifying priority projects is the most
which can be disseminated through a variety important content to be improved in the plan-
of methods such as intranet, internet, compact ning process. The urban planning project is not
disc, or printed maps. The data propaganda only successful in the planning process. More
system can be developed flexibly to meet the importantly, it leads to proper development in
requirements of the planning. A web-based the community and beomes a reality through
database can be a practical way to share infor- effective implementation in practice. The project
mation with multiple users via the internet. will not only ensure the technical aspects of
• It's important that the content of the data- the policy, the economic aspects, environment
base is always updated. Updating data about and society, but also needs to link effectively
urban areas can be done through a network of with the target program, development conces-
single databases such as a construction licensing sional resources, institutional and management
system and a property management system. procedures. The possible capital sources and
As for statistical data, the latest survey data on internal capacity of local and creative projects
land use and the environment need to be stored that mobilizing resources of citizen, community
and updated annually, while for natural con- are still limited in the recommended priority
ditions, such as soil, geology, geomorphology projects. The “soft” infrastructure project, such
mandatory periodic updates are not required. as for landscape, greenery, quality public space,
• The identified step to clarify issues affecting is a good initiative for urban projects.
the city at multi-sectoral and sectoral levels
needs to be addressed in the short term and long - Supervision and evaluation should be seen
term, from which to build program planning. as a step in the process, to provide a systematic
The results of the analysis should be shared with feedback mechanism. In this way, it is possible to
stakeholders. It requires the participation of the adjust planning implementation in accordance
parties in the process of defining the issues and with the supervision and evaluation results. Well
opportunities to show the values and demands implemented supervision will provide valuable
of citizens and the parties. input data, especially if the data is designed to
consolidate existing databases, strengthening the
- The urban development strategy has a supervision/ evaluation frame: The supervision
connective meaning between vision and the / evaluation frame is based on three contents:
common goal through the projects or spe- • The compatibility with the general planning
cific actions which have been determined after using growth boundaries, the partition and
having established the vision and identified major urban construction;
goal. In the context of globalization, urban • The implementation of projects / programs;
development strategies need to be considered and
based on competitive advantage. The calcu- • Results of specialties (the development
lations and actions in all aspects to achieve target of specialties ).
3.6 THE RELATIONSHIP

WITH THE NATIONAL URBAN
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
(NUDS) IN THE PERIOD OF
2020 VISION TO 2030
Background: the National Urban Development

Strategy (NUDS) stage 1 will prepare basic
information; analyze the current state of urban
development, current urban development pol-
icies and the current legal framework, thereby
supporting the Ministry of Construction to
make the proposals for stage 2 of NUDS Project
which is sponsored by the Asian Development
Bank.
The period of 2020 vision to 2030
• The content of NUDS: Establishing
NUDS to adjust the focus and improve the
current development management process and
urban planning in order to build the urban
sector is more more applicable for a dynamic
development ecomomy. NUDS Phase 1 will
accordingly focus on the contents of assessing
the actual status of the policy framework, legal,
development tools and urban development,
international experience in order prepare a
synthesis as the basis for NUDS.
• NUDS will adjust the focus of NUDS and
improving management of development pro-
cess and urban planning in line with dynamic
developing economy.
• Construction for the overall urban planning
of a city in the service of urban development
management no longer brings the required
result for a modern and effective city in
terms of the livability, sustainable resources,
urban services accessibility, the level of safety
for investment and promoting investment
opportunities in the international competitive
environment.
IV
CONCLUSION
AND
RECOMMEN-
DATIONS
The role of CDS in the Vietnam context CDS is not currently a program of the
as not conceived as a replacement but rather a government nor are the documents similar to
supplement to any or all of the current plans. the physical plans and the long-term budget
It acts as a tool and a catalyst to achieve the those of the local government. Instead, CDS is
required coordination, prioritization and good a process undertaken with the participation of
implementation through the method of consul- citizens while the local governments only serve
tation between the city and other stakeholders in to create the required conditions. The main
order to clarify the strategic objectives, identify strategies that are identified through the CDS
priorities and committed resources from the process can be performed by local governments
parties. or not, but in all cases, the local authorities
still need to maintain a catalytic role for the
With the aim of addressing the persistent realization of the project in , for example mobi-
shortcomings, the CDS approach had earlier lizing financial resources and providing positive
been introduced to cities in Viet Nam as a signals for the private sector. The capacity of
critical tool to set the stage for integrated urban local government is very important in creating
socio-economic and spatial development, espe- catalysts, representing the public interest and
cially in a perspective of innovation, strategic overcoming shortcomings and failures.
leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainabil-
ity. At first, the role of the CDS process is to The good experiences drawn from the pilot
create real objectivity among the stakeholders CDS (such as: Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City,
in assessing the current situation, and then to Nam Dinh, Ha Long, Can Tho, Tam Ky, Quy
implement some strategic actions to facilitate the Nhon), include:
city in significantly changing its performance. • The involvement of the community in the
The city’s own budget in all cases is small com- planning process.
pared with the total financial investment that • Development of a forum to exchange
stakeholders mobilize. ideas and implement 'new' ideas, meeting the
demands of local economic development, ini-
CDS is a pilot project employing experi- tiatives, livelihood, adaptation to climate change
mental methods, with the CDS implementation and natural resource management among local
being referred to the general CDS guide, authorities, domestic and international partners,
specified under the conditions of each city. the State, the private sectors and the community.
(for example the themes selected in the Ha • Mobilization of social resources through the
Long CDS included: urbanization and land identification of strategic projects and commit-
management; economic and infrastructure ments from implementing partners.
development; environmental management;
urban poverty and employment; and financial To promote the institutionalization of the
resource and urban management, while for community-based, participatory city develop-
the Can Tho CDS these covered the economy, ment strategy at the national level, the following
infrastructure, environment and human resource specific solutions are:
development and poverty reduction. (1) To propose the integrated contents and
best practices of CDS as part of the urban
Conclusion and recommendations 49
planning process within the period 2016-

2020; (2) To review and recommend additional
adjustment of legal documents relating to the
urban planning formulation and implementa-
tion towards the innovative methods of urban
planning in the direction of integration within
the period 2020-2030; and (3) To develop the
National forum to promote institutionalization
of the integrated planning approach method
(this content was implemented at three con-
sultations at the national workshops held on
August 23-24, 2016 and September 21, 2016
in Tam Ky and 23 September, 2016 in Quy
Nhon city).
(1) To propose the integrated contents and
best practices of CDS into the urban planning
process during the period 2016-2020:
• Integrate the participatory mechanism of
parties in the evaluation of the current situation
and identification of the development premise.
• Integrate the development strategies in the
urban development orientation.
• Integrate priority projects with feasible
funding sources and internal capacity of local
authorities.
• Integrate the monitoring mechanisms and
assessment of the planning implementation for
urban management objectives according to the
general plans.
(2) To review and propose additional adjust-
ment of legal documents relating to the urban
planning formulation and implementation
towards the innovation of the urban planning
method in the direction of integration within
the period 2020-2030.
Conclusion and recommendations 51
VIETNAM INSTITUTE FOR UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
URBAN AND RURAL PLANNING PROGRAMME | UN-HABITAT
10 Hoa Lu, Hai Ba Trung, Ha Noi Room 204 - A2 Building, Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound
Tel: +84 - 04 - 22210888 298 Kim Ma Street - Ba Dinh District - Hanoi
Fax: +84 - 04 - 39764339 Tel: +84 - 24 - 38237232 | Fax: +84 - 24 - 38237227
Email: info@viup.vn Email: info@unhabitatvietnam.org

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VIETNAM INSTITUTE FOR URBAN

AND RURAL PLANNING

Ha Noi, December 2016

"Final report - Support for promoting institutionalization of

Leading: Ngo Trung Hai, Nguyen Quang

Task Managers: Phan Thanh Bich, Bui Thu Hien

International Experts: Detlef Kammeier

Publishing Coordinator: Nguy Huong Ha

Designer: Pham Nguyen Tuyen Hoang

English Editor: Terry Standley

Financial Support: Cities Alliance

2.1 Criteria to determine a good CDS 12

3.1 Approach method 26

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47

OVERVIEW assessing the situation, building a vision on

Quy Nhon City by night (c) Quy Nho City PC

1.1. OBJECTIVES 1.2. THE TASK TITLE

together with institutionalization recommen- high density and high-transaction environments

1.4. THEMES IN CDS incentive structures to induce more efficient

Aerial view of Da Nang City (c) Vuong Khai Dinh

is much easier to prevent poverty by effectively 5. Governance.

1.5. CDS FORMULATION • Prepare documents for training.

3. Formulate vision and strategic priorities • Complete the information collection

4. Link the CDS with investment plans

2.1 CRITERIA TO 2.2 ABOUT THE THEORETICAL

b. Main themes Institution: local authorities need to become

Ensuring local jobs (c) Tam Ky City PC

Ha Long City: City development strategy

Can Tho City: Urban Development Strategy

Can Tho City: Urban Development Strategy

Can Tho City Urban Development Strategy

Can Tho City Urban Development Strategy

Ha Long City implemented a CDS (c) Le Huy

Priority: that include the basic needs of people covering

3.1 APPROACH METHOD 3.2 ROADMAP FOR

In Vietnam, urban planning mainly serves as

and investment policies approved by leaders efficiency of livability, sustainable natural

3.4 THE INTEGRATING Current situation assessment and the urban

BẢNG 1 The process of integrating CDS into General Urban Planning

Part B B1. Situation Task 1 Data Collection

Part C C1. Spatial Plan Task 1 Regional Integration

Task 7 Define Functional Zone and Orientation

Part D D1. Consolidation Task 1 Prepare General Plan Documents

Mobilising community participation in the CDS process (c) Ha Nguy

premise needs to be assessed cooperatively: and take advantages of external opportunities as

The model of establishing vision with participation:

1. Reflecting the core values of the community

2. Addressing issues, trends and making the actual forecast

3. Outlining the future and image of the community desired

4. Promoting local actions

A Good vision declaration should include the following characteristics:

7. Characteristics and difference

(b). The methods of establishing vision: (d) Establishment of sustainable development

services, communications, investment, etc.; minimum” is corresponding to projects that

3.6 THE RELATIONSHIP

Background: the National Urban Development

planning process within the period 2016-