Hue urban space will be expanded in the future. Photo: Phong Nguyen
Hue urban space expanded
Hue City expansion is seen as one of the first steps in implementing of Resolution 54 - NQ / TW by the Politburo on construction and development of Thua Thien Hue Province to 2030, with a vision to 2045.Thua Thien Hue Province also approved the project of constructing and developing Hue urban space up to 2030, with a vision to 2050.
The project is divided into 2 phases, meeting both immediate need (expanding Hue City) and long-term need (turning the whole province into a city directly under the Central Government). Phase 1 (2020 - 2025): constructing and developing Hue urban space towards the sea, along the landscape axis of both banks of the Huong River.
Phase 2 (2025 - 2030): continuing to develop Hue urban space in line with the orientation of the regional construction planning project of Thua Thien Hue Province and the master plan of Hue City approved by the Prime Minister.
The 55th session on April 27 held by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly voted to approve the adjustment of the boundary to expand Hue City and arrange, establish the wards under Hue City.
Accordingly, the adjustment will be made to the entire natural area and population of the two communes (Thuy Van, Thuy Bang) of Huong Thuy Town; 2 wards (Huong Ho, Huong An) and 4 communes (Huong Tho, Huong Phong, Huong Vinh, Hai Duong) of Huong Tra Town; 4 communes (Phu Thuong, Phu Duong, Phu Mau, Phu Thanh) and Thuan An Town of Phu Vang District will be under Hue City’s management.
Hue City has 265.99 km2 of natural area (currently 70.67 km2) and a population of 652,572; there are 36 communal administrative units including 29 wards and 7 communes (an increase of 9 communal administrative units). Therefore, Hue City in the future will be nearly 4 times larger than the present.
Discussing the expansion of Hue City, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phan Ngoc Tho affirmed, “As the central city of Thua Thien Hue in the future, Hue City must have an area large enough for comprehensive development, taking the Huong River landscape axis as the core, expanding both sides and concentrating along Huong River axis. Hue City in the future will include heritage and monuments in order to facilitate geography while ensuring that the coastal area, plain as well as midlands can develop the economy comprehensively.
This is aimed at depopulating the people from the inner city to the suburbs and protecting the heritage in the inner city of Hue.”
Which direction gets priority?
Dr. Dang Van Bai, former member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, said that Hue is the ancient capital with the most intact shape in the country, so it is necessary to develop in the direction of heritage city. “The French kept intact the north part of the Huong River and built an urban area in the south of the Huong River. Expanding Hue City, we must preserve the landscape of both banks of the Huong River, from Phung Son to Thuan An Estuary because it is the planning axis and plays a vital role in creating the nuance of Thua Thien Hue,” said Dr Bai.
Looking back on the history of city expansion and development, it is easy to see that Hue has been upgraded from town to city with the constant focus on expansion. The upcoming expansion is not expected to be the largest in the history.
In 1981, TP. Hue also included Thuy Duong (Huong Thuy). Before 1975, the sole expansion in 1908 was on both banks; the others focused on the south with the target of “preserving the landscape of both banks of the Huong River" in Mr. Bai’s opinion.
The 1981 expansion was very special when many directions were opened; the city was extremely large, and that is also a model for the upcoming expansion according to the province's report. Worth mentioning is that this expansion mainly addresses the issue of scale previously without specific development plans of a modern city, so there happened the “expansion, narrowing” situation not in accordance with the development rule.
According to the project of constructing and developing the urban space to 2030, Hue City will be expanded in the east - west and north - south directions with the main landscape axis of the Huong River, extending from the west forest and mountain region to the sea, connecting Thuan An Sea, Tam Giang Lagoon with Hue center.
Despite the capability of four-direction development, the expanded Hue City faces many challenges in choice when the resources and socio-economic efficiency are taken into consideration. Recently, when witnessing the heavy flooding scene, despite much accretion made in the eastern new urban areas, many people have regretfully wondered why Thua Thien Hue forgot the high and dry west direction with great land reserves. The same is true for the north-south directions. Hopefully, with the mergence of Thuy Bang, Huong Ho, Huong Tho, and Huong An into Hue, there will be the conditions for breakthrough investment in the west.
The story about both banks of the Huong River is quite satisfactory. Worth mentioning is the open direction towards the sea. With Thuan An and Hai Duong merged, the expanded Hue officially becomes a coastal city. It is known as a "sleeping princess" being awakened when the space from the city center is dramatically urbanized.
Currently, Thuan An has a beautiful beach. In the near future, Thuan An Town will be formed as a center of marine ecotourism and seaport service activities, shipbuilding-repair industry and seafood processing industry
The coastal area of the expanded Hue City is also a highlight for the development of a beautiful coast stretching up to 128 km. Priority to focus on development towards the sea is also to continue the traditional thought, i.e. taking the Huong River landscape axis as the core in expanding and developing Hue City, maintaining the identity of a heritage city.
By Dinh Nam