The space on both sides of the Huong River is increasingly perfected
New opportunity
According to the project to expand the administrative boundaries of Hue City, from July 1, 2021, the adjustment will be made to the entire natural area and population of Thuy Van and Thuy Bang Communes (Huong Thuy Town); Huong Ho Ward, Huong An Ward, Huong Tho Commune, Huong Phong Commune, Huong Vinh Commune and Hai Duong Commune (Huong Tra Town); Phu Thuong, Phu Duong, Phu Mau, Phu Thanh Communes and Thuan An Town (Phu Vang) to Hue City. At the same time, 4 new wards in Hue City will be established: Huong Vinh, Thuy Van, Phu Thuong, Thuan An.
Hue City expansion is the result of many years of awaiting, the aspiration of many generations based on the fact that Hue City is too cramped to develop while having to shoulder the mission of conserving heritage and cultural values alongside the socio-economic development.
After the adjustment, arrangement and establishment of wards, Hue City has 265.99 km2 of natural area and population size of 652,572 people; there are 36 commune-level administrative units, including 29 wards and 7 communes.
These days, tens of thousands of people in rural areas in districts and towns in the city are excited and eager to officially become citizens of the city. Everyone hopes that after being merged into Hue City, the people's life, local facilities and infrastructure will receive more attention.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Huong Tho Commune, merging into the city is the people's dream, and today it comes true. The people's greatest wish is that the State invests in infrastructure, upgrades schools, cultural houses and gives attention to their children's learning as well as the people's life in the commune.
Towards a central dynamic city
According to Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of Hue City People’s Council Phan Thien Dinh, the adjustment and expansion of the administrative boundaries of Hue City are the thought and aspiration of the Party Committee, the government, the people of Thua Thien Hue in general and Hue City in particular over many terms.
This event has special significance for Hue to have good conditions to carry out its mission of preserving heritage values, core cultural values along with realizing the mission of a central dynamic city. Notably, developing Hue into the administrative, knowledge and technological center of the province, with the task of laying foundations for boosting the province's economic development is a key task in the coming time.
From Mr. Phan Thien Dinh's viewpoint, for a long time, Hue City has played the role of a core city, but its current scale has not met that expectation. In order to resolve the contradictions, requirements and tasks set, the expansion is absolutely necessary to create the land fund for the development of the city, to satisfy the requirements of the central dynamic city. At the same time, it solves the problem of ensuring a safe corridor to protect the heritage system, especially the tangible heritage, against damage. This is both an opportunity and a big challenge.
The requirement set for Hue at present remains a central city, aside from its role of a cultural, medical and educational center, a heritage city. However, with a new scale and new requirements, Hue must be the dynamic center for economic development, the place to provide human resources for industrial zones and economic zones in the province.
Additionally, Hue City aims to be a trade center, where big investors and entrepreneurs come to set up their headquarters, where there are full conditions for entrepreneurs to research and invest. Expanded Hue City will form a scientific research center associated with economic development promotion, a training place associated with enterprise needs. Therefore, there is a great need for the government and people to make more efforts to provide the most favorable mechanism to increase motivation for promoting and attracting investment.
In addition to its function of a major medical, educational and cultural center of the country, Hue City currently has another mission of a central dynamic center, where the expanded city will have a new economic element. When the land fund increases, the agricultural development is a problem.
Urban agriculture is not merely farming, but it should be associated with universities, enterprises and scientists to develop high-tech agricultural products. Investment promotion will be stepped up when the city has more sea and lagoons. Therefore, connecting new resources including land, natural resources with intellectual resources, namely universities is to create a new development direction for the expanded city.
Synchronization from the working method
Secretary of Hue City Party Committee Phan Thien Dinh affirmed that one of the big challenges of expanding Hue City is that for more than ten years now, the city government has been in a narrow scope. With the expansion, the population increases greatly, so the entire political system must really change to shoulder that mission.
With the support of the Central Government, the Provincial People's Committee, leaders and upcoming city departments are constantly making efforts to have a new vision in line with the requirements, take specific actions to meet the work requirements. The task is to synchronize the working method, urban infrastructure investment, information technology development, human resource training, etc.
From now to late 2021, the city will accelerate the transfer process in terms of human resources, land management, urban infrastructure, etc. Notably, from July 1, the entire administrative system must operate smoothly and cause no difficulty for people. Afterwards, the human resource team will be reviewed to standardize training, create uniformity between the old and new staff, and introduce a new working method to stabilize the apparatus.
Story and photo: Thanh Huong