Booming cities and vigorous urbanisation are challenging Viet Nam’s future, according to a business conference titled "Smart Cities" held in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

The conference, held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the German Embassy and Siemens, was told the nation needed to promote smart urban centres as locations like Ha Noi and HCM City were struggling to cope with overstretched infrastructure.

Pham Trong Thuc, director of the General Directorate of Energy’s renewable energy department, said the Vietnamese Government had paid much attention to urbanisation.

“We understand clearly the role and importance of urban centres in supporting the integration of Viet Nam’s economy with the world’s as well as in promoting sustainable growth in the region,” Thuc said.

He added that Viet Nam had identified the development of smart cities as not only best choice, but one in alignment with the global megatrend.

“We believe smart urban technologies are essential to supporting economic growth while also controlling the ecological, infrastructural and social impacts associated with continuing urbanisation.”

Viet Nam has one of the highest urbanisation speeds in Southeast Asia – 3.4 per cent a year. Population in urban areas accounted for 35.7 per cent of the national total. It is estimated that urban populations will reach 40 per cent of the country’s total by 2020.

However, the quality of urban areas in Viet Nam is low due to lack of integrated infrastructure and slowness in building it compared to socio-economic development.

The conference was told the infrastructure system in big cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City had been overloaded, causing regular traffic jams and floods.

“The vigorous development of cities presents decision-makers and urban planners with enormous infrastructure challenges. Not only is it important to guarantee a high quality of life for city dwellers, but also to ensure that metropolises remain economically competitive and that resources are handled responsibly,” he said.

Sharing experience in building smart cities in Germany, Jörg Rüger, First Secretary for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Urban Development at the Embassy of Germany in Ha Noi, said digitalisation would fundamentally change the way people lived and worked.

“Smart cities are not an end in themselves. Instead, it is intended to serve sustainability goals at all levels, be it social, ecological or economic. With a new urban agenda, the United Nations had set new standards for urban development, putting the needs of people at the centre of action,” he said.

Siemens Viet Nam President and CEO Pham Thai Lai said: “We understand very well the challenges Viet Nam is facing, and we are working with cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City on new city districts and urban mobility options to help overcome these challenges."

"We have a unique digital offering for the infrastructure needs of a city. We are working directly with the city to ensure that digital technologies are integrated into planning to immediately reduce congestion, improve air quality and increase energy reliability," Lai said. — VNS