Urban specialists, city mayors and senior government officials from Viet Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos gathered yesterday in HCM City to share expertise and discuss how to build sustainable cities.
The conference, which was organised for the first time in Viet Nam by the World Bank and the HCM City People's Committee, aims to move forward with last year's WB Ecological Cities as Economic Cities (Eco2 Cities) programme.
During the three-day workshop, the national representatives are expected to exchange knowledge on the challenges and priorities in their countries and how cities might benefit from a new approach to urban development.
The event was held to establish communities of leaders and practitioners in East Asia that will adopt and refine sustainable urban planning and management practices, using the Eco2 Cities framework as a point of reference.
The meeting brings together national and local stakeholders from each country, providing a rich opportunity for regional knowledge sharing. A focus will be on identifying unique points of entry for each country and city to begin strategic actions and catalyst projects.
At the conference, which will wrap up tomorrow, deputy chairwoman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hong said sustainable development was a Vietnamese Government priority, which had become an important criteria for socio-economic activities.
Huge development
"The country, which is in the process of industrial-isation, modernisation and global integration, needs approaches for sustainable development to face challenges such as traffic congestion, flood and environmental pollution," Hong said.
"The city looks forward to support from local and foreign urban specialists and scientists."
On the waterfront
Representatives from the four countries will share examples and visit Nhieu Loc Canal, to look at waterfront redevelopment in HCM City today.
The WB's Eco2 approach draws on a range of approaches from around the world where innovation in legislation, planning, institutional reform, as well as integrated solutions in the provision of vital urban services – transport, water, energy, waste management have enabled urban development to take place in a multi-sectoral manner with involvement of all urban stakeholders.
Developing countries are in the process of tripling their built-up urban area from 200,000sq.km (in 2000) to 600,000sq.km (by 2030), according to World Bank. — VNS
Vietnam News